


This World Is Mine

by therealassistant



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/M, Izuru Kamukura au, Ultimate Hunt is actually a thing au, mmmmm i needed some saimatsu and this is the only way it can happen, spoilers for main game are in this fic, through that Angst, virtual reality au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-14 08:50:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14766414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealassistant/pseuds/therealassistant
Summary: "...What's going to happen? I can already predict what will happen. I already know because I am loved by talent. But...no matter what happens, it's of no concern to me. I will not be able to participate in what lies ahead."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't really touched my ao3 account in awhile because I wanted to work on something for my favorite v3 ship (saimatsu). While this is a multi chapter fic, I already have about 90% of the fic already written out, so I already have a schedule planned for updates (which will be every four days), as well as a chapter layout, so you can definitely count on this fic being finished pretty fast and actually being finished B) I do hope you all enjoy the fic as much as I enjoyed writing it lmao.
> 
> disclaimer: i own nothing

The device is heavy in his hand, yet he still somehow manages to not drop it as he looks it over, even if he already knew what it was going to do and what exactly he needed to do for it to work. Hope's Peak Academy had no problem explaining it to them all multiple times, and they’d probably have no problem explaining it again if he asked.

”Alright, is everyone good to go?”

Shuichi looks up at the voice, only to smile once he saw that it was, who they deemed, the leader of their small group, Kaede. Even now, in the face of all these potentially dangerous machines and what their purpose was, she still smiled down at them all, reassuring them all in her own way.

”Hell yeah! We’re good to go, right Shuichi?”

Kaito slaps his back so hard that Shuichi nearly drops the device he was holding, only to catch himself at the last second, smiling nervously as he looks back up at his friend, having to tip his head up a bit higher to see the other man. “Y-Yeah…”

Kokichi yawns dramatically as he sits down on one of the many chairs in the room, fiddling with the device he had as he loudly exclaimed. “Come ooooon then! I wanna get rid of my dumb, stupid talent so I won’t get killed by those stupid dummies anymore!”

Gonta, who had been looking down at the device he had in confusion, looked up at Kokichi, now directing the confused look at him. “... Gonta thought Kokichi didn’t want to do this though? Said that Hope's Peak had ulterior motives… Whatever that meant…”

Shuichi flinched at Gonta’s words, but no one seemed to notice that, their eyes on Kokichi, who now had tears in his childlike eyes. ”W-Well… Yeah, but…” Kokichi sniffed, and Shuichi could almost feel the annoyance suddenly radiating from Kaito, who quickly moved away from Kokichi to Maki on the other side of the room, even though he had to leave Shuichi behind, who didn’t want to move from his device. “I-I… I-I don’t wanna get killed..!”

At this point, everyone else in the room was ignoring Kokichi, looking down at the device in their hands or making small talk to the people sitting down next to them. Discussing about what they would do once their talents were gone, or if they had plans to try and see each other again.

Shuichi himself sat down in his own chair, staring down at the device in his hand as he thought over what Hope's Peak had offered them. Fourteen of them had been given the same deal. In exchange for their talents, they would get a new life free of being hunted by the ultimate hunt. What Shuichi had been offered though, was something akin to being killed, yet would finally give him the chance to help everyone else.

Hell, maybe it would even give the chance for everyone else to eventually have their talents given back to them. Hope's Peak said they could do that after all, right?

He’s too engrossed into his own thoughts to hear someone take a seat next to him, or when they call out to him to try and get his attention. He does finally look up though once the other poked his cheek, causing him to snap out of his thoughts, quickly looking up to see Kaede’s pouting face. “Geez Shuichi, it’s rude to ignore someone like that! Did you even hear what I said?”

He could practically feel the blush on his face as he looked back down in embarrassment, a sheepish smile on his face as he mumbled out his reply. “S-Sorry, Kaede, but no…”

Kaede groans again, leaning back into her seat as she throws her hands into the air. “Forget what I said. Come on, Shuichi, this is the third time today…” He doesn’t see the concerned look she sends his way, his hat hiding nearly everything but the device in his hands from sight. “... Are you worried about what you’ll do after this..?”

For a few minutes, he debates his answer. Should he even reply? He had already decided to keep what he was about to do a secret, because he knew that the second he told anyone, none of them would allow him to do it, and he wanted, no, needed to do something to help them all. Ever since the Ultimate Hunt started, he’s practically done nothing but feel useless, unable to do anything, even with his talent. He had to pay them all back somehow for basically becoming his family, as well as helping with his own lack of confidence, even if it meant killing himself in the process.

Eventually, he simply sighs, running a finger along the edges of the device in his hands in some attempt to keep his hands from shaking as he mumbled. “... A bit. I want to see you all again, but what if we don’t remember each other..? What if we’re different people entirely after this?”

For him, it wasn’t simply a matter of what ifs, but of wills, because he will forget all of the people he had become friends with, and he will be a different person entirely. He can almost hear a faint whisper in his mind telling him not to do this, that he could simply forget about his talent and live the rest of his life away from the ultimate hunt.

But it’s quiet compared to everything else, and despite how smart everyone claims he is, he sees no other future for himself besides this.

For a few seconds, Kaede doesn’t respond, and he thinks for a split second that she’s left him, before he feels a sudden weight removed from his head. Shocked, he looks up to see Kaede placing his hat on her head, smiling almost mischievously as he looked at her in surprise, although he couldn’t really see half of her face anymore due to the hat. “Well, first off, I think it’ll be a lot easier if you can see our faces.”

His shocked look remains for a few seconds longer before he gives a small laugh. “Well, now I can’t really see your face. And besides,” He points to the device some of the others were already putting onto their heads. “Don’t you need to take it off so you can put that on?”

She looks over towards the other ultimates, concern flashing into her eyes for a moment before she hides it with a sheepish laugh, removing the hat from her head as she did. “Yeah, I guess you’re right… Oh, wait.” She then raises her hand to her head, quickly removing two musical note pins from her hair, looking them over before holding them out to him. “I probably can’t wear these either… How about we trade? Your hat for these? I probably can’t keep them anyway, since they’re part of my talent and all..”

He looks down at the hair pins for a moment in thought, the shine of them reflecting back his own tired face. He almost winced at the dark circles under his eyes, as he probably hasn’t slept peacefully since the ultimate hunt began. But then again, neither did anyone else in the room. Yet he still takes the hair pins anyway, the metal cold against his hands, slowly nodding his head as he did. “... Y-Yeah, sure…”

It was probably a good thing to get rid of it, as it was nothing but bad memories for him, and he’d probably be less recognizable without it.

That, and he doubted Hope's Peak would allow him to keep it after this.

She flashes one last smile towards him before leaning back into her seat, lifting the device above her head. “Well… I’ll see you again, right?”

This time, he does catch the concern in her face, as well as the fear. That’s when it seemed to click that while what he was about to do would probably kill him off, he at least didn’t have to see what was going to happen next. Everyone else in the room would, though.

For once, it’s Shuichi who gives a reassuring smile back, pocketing the music note hair clips as he leaned back into his chair. “You bet, Kaede.”

The lie feels disgusting in his mouth, and it almost makes him want to puke, but he forces the smile to remain on his face, at least until Kaede’s worry lessens, and she puts the device on her head and shuts her eyes.

He gives one final look around the room, seeing that everyone else had placed the device on their own heads except him, their eyes shut and looking peaceful for the first time since Shuichi had seen any of them. After this, they wouldn’t remember their ultimate talents, and they could live like normal people without the fear of the ultimate hunt, just as they wanted.

It’s then that he begins to have second thoughts. Maybe he should simply make a new deal with Hope’s Peak Academy? After all, they never really gave him any details concerning what the “new him” would do about the Ultimate Hunt...

He shakes his head at that, gritting his teeth as he lays back on his chair. No, he had to do something to help everyone, and if it meant sacrificing himself so they could eventually live their lives peacefully, then so be it.

The very last thing Shuichi Saihara ever sees is the dull purple and blue lights stretching across the ceiling as he places the device on his head, and then slowly shuts his eyes.

###### 

She taps her fingers on the countertop as she stares up at the clock, swearing under her breath that the second hand was just moving slower as time went on, and that it wasn’t just her, as her multiple co-workers had said.

Thankfully, no one else had walked into the coffee shop she worked at, and once the clock signaled that her shift was over, she quickly moved into the backroom, already undoing the apron around her as she moved.

She exited the backroom a few minutes later, the hat she had taken off at the start of her shift firmly back onto her head, hiding most of her face from sight, as well as the backpack that carried most of her books and wallet, quickly waving goodbye to the other people behind the front counter with a smile on her face as she left the building.

Once she was outside, she readjusted the backpack so that it no longer dug into her back before walking in the direction of the local library. According to the reminder on her phone, the books in her bag were due that day, and in only a half hour to boot. She already was on somewhat bad terms with the library, considering the growing fine and her tendency to turn in books late, so she would rather not be late to return the books she had now.

It only takes her awhile to get there though, about fifteen or so minutes, but once she does, she quickly heads inside the large building, already pulling the backpack off her back to retrieve the books from inside.

The person behind the front desk notices her, a light smile appearing on her face before she gives a light chuckle. “Again, Akamatsu? This is the third time this month.”

Kaede pouts as she finally retrieves the books out of her bag before placing them onto the other's desk. “No, not “again”. I’ll have you know, these books are only fifteen minutes until they’re overdue. So technically, I turned them in on time.”

The woman behind the desk only chuckles at Kaede’s words, picking up one of the many books on the desk as she spoke. “Alright Akamatsu, whatever you say…” She then looks down at the book in her hands, before looking at the rest of the books Kaede had placed on the desk. “... Well, what do you know, I believe a young man was asking for some of these a few minutes ago …”

”E-Eh? Really?” Augh, maybe she should have came before her shift started? But that meant coming to the library at 6 am, and she could barely get up on time to go to work in the first place, as well as for college classes later in the day that she had only recently started. Maybe she should apologize to him? Then again, he didn’t know that she specifically had the books, or what she looked like…

The woman behind the front desk cuts off her thoughts, nodding her head as she pointed towards one of the tables towards the center of the library. “Yep, that’s him over there.”

Just by looking at the back of the man’s head, Kaede feels the sudden urge to run before he can turn around and see her, but something stops her, and that hesitation allows enough time for the man to turn around fully and actually see her.

Kaede feels her breath catch in her throat at the sight of the man, freezing up completely with wide eyes while the man stared at her with sharp, bright red eyes that bore into her for a split second before they too seem to widen. Quickly though, the man looks away, taking both his almost eye-chilling stare and the freezing sensation that overcame her with it.

If the lady behind the front desk said anything else, Kaede didn’t hear it. She could only stare at the man, her thoughts running rampant. An itching sensation in the back of her mind told her that she knew that man, yet she could never recall a time where she had actually seen him before this moment. Was he a student on campus that she had seen during passing? Maybe he’s one of her roommate’s friends? She recalls dozens of them, but none of them with long, black hair and piercing red eyes.

Eventually, after thanking the lady behind the desk, she finally forces herself to walk up to the man sitting down at the table, who had an open book in his hands.

Without saying anything, she sets her backpack onto the table across from him, which only prompts the man to glance up at her blankly for a moment before looking back down at the book in his hands. She took this as something that was like an invitation to sit down, and she quickly sat down across from him before he could take it back.

For a few minutes, she tried to find something to say, anything at all, because it was clear that the man in front of her wouldn’t say anything, evident by how he wasn’t even looking at her, before she eventually settled on something. “... Hey, this may seem weird, but…”

As she spoke, the man slowly looked back up towards her, red eyes barely visible behind a mess of black hair. “... Have we… Met before..?”

”...” The man simply shrugs his shoulders, and Kaede can’t help a somewhat annoyed groan from leaving her lips as she laid her head down on the table in defeat, ignoring how the hat on her head almost fell off. “Come on, you have to give me something to work with here..!”

”... How about we introduce ourselves instead of asking each other inane questions?”

Her head snaps up at the other’s voice, the hat tumbling off her head and onto the table as she stared at the red eyed man, who had shut the book in his hands and set it off to the side, finally revealing his scarred hands.

For some reason, she didn’t expect for him to sound so smooth and assured. She had expected him to stutter, to sound almost unsure of himself. Quickly, she shakes that thought out of her head, giving a nervous laugh as she picks her hat back up off the table before placing it back onto her head. “A-Ah, yeah, that’s probably a good idea… I’m Kaede, Kaede Akamatsu, and I’m taking a performing arts major at the college a few blocks away. How about you?”

For the first time since Kaede had seen the man, which was, granted, not that long, the man actually looked stumped. He opened his mouth once before quickly shutting it, furrowing his eyebrows as he glared at something seemingly above Kaede’s head. For a moment, she thought that he wouldn’t respond before, all too quickly, his troubled look vanishes, and he instantly relaxes. “... My name is… I-Izuru… I’m a freelance worker.”

She stares at the man for a moment or so before a nervous laugh leaves her mouth. “You don’t sound so sure about that…”

The glare he gives her automatically makes her stop, almost causing her to shrink just a bit in her seat, quickly mumbling out an apology. Yet he immediately stopped once he saw her reaction, looking off to the side as he mumbled out his own apology before he eventually goes quiet.

Soon, the silence becomes tense, yet Kaede no longer wants to shrink into her seat. Instead, she looks over the other man, finally getting a good look at him. Now that she did though, he didn’t actually look that intimidating, he almost looked meak. Long black locks that went down his body framed a fragile looking face, as well as a sharp black suit that somehow fitted onto his thin body. Just as Kaede was about to question why someone would wear a suit that nice at 1 pm, she notices something clipped onto his suit’s breast pocket, a dull shine reflecting off it every time he moved.

”... Hey, what’s that?”

”Hm?” Despite his response, he doesn’t look that confused, his face still strangely blank of anything as he faces her once again, yet he’s careful not to look her in the eyes, which was easy, considering her choice of headwear. “What’s what?”

This time, she leans forward just a bit, pointing to the gold music notes attached to his chest. “Where did you get those? They look super nice!”

She flinches when she catches the person behind the front desk holding a finger to her mouth, making Kaede laugh sheepishly as she leans back into her chair once again. “S-Sorry, sorry…”

When she looks back at Izuru though, she immediately stops laughing.

Izuru seemed distant, staring off into nothing, his red eyes for once absent of the hostility there was before. He only snapped out of it when Kaede waved a hand in front of his face to try and get his attention, flinching as he takes a sharp breath. “Wh-What? What did you say?”

Kaede blinks in surprise at the other’s reaction, taking a few moments to collect herself before she speaks up again. “... I asked you where you got those pins on your suit, they look nice…”

Izuru looked confused for a second before looking down at his suit’s breast pocket, as if he only now realized the pins there. “... A-Ah, those. I, uhm…” He goes silent for a few seconds before he quickly speaks up, his voice quiet and somewhat rushed. “... I don’t know…”

What? He didn’t know? What did that even mean?

Before Kaede can say anything else though, a dull “ping” resounds across the quiet library, and Izuru’s confused look from before vanishes, his eyes once again filled with an intensity that almost scared Kaede as he reached into his pocket and took out his phone.

His eyes dance across his phone screen, probably reading some sort of text. It took him only a few seconds to finish, but once he was done, he pocketed his phone once again, sighing as he stood up. “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to cut this conversation short. Something’s come up, and I must be going-”

”W-Wait.” The words escape her mouth before she can stop them, clamping her hands over her mouth to prevent anything else from escaping. It’s too late though, as Izuru was turning around, staring at her with eyes that nearly glowed a bright red, even in the light.

Why did she even say that? She only met this man mere minutes ago, and she didn’t even get to apologize to him over some library books. Why didn’t she just leave him alone?

Yet something in the back of her mind tells her to not leave him, that he needs help, that it’s somehow her fault that he is like this.

Before she can think about it, she takes her phone out of her pocket, words tumbling out of her mouth with little to no thought. “C-Can I get your number? M-Maybe we can talk some other time soon… H-Heck, maybe it’ll give us time to know each other better?”

At first, Izuru does nothing but stare at her with a blank expression on his face, and she briefly thought that his answer would be no, and she would never see Izuru ever again.

Yet only a few seconds later, Izuru took his phone back out of his pocket, mumbling out his reply as he types something into his phone. “I don’t see why not…”

Inwardly, Kaede cheered as they registered each other’s phone number, with the raven haired young man pocketing his phone as he turns to leave the library once again without a word. Before he can leave though, Kaede finds herself speaking up again, yet she knows what she’s going to say this time as she waves towards him. “See ya later, Izuru..!”

The man hesitates with one step, stumbling a bit before righting himself, and once he speaks, his voice is once again somewhat quiet. “... L-Later, Kaede…”

Kaede watches him until he leaves the building, and once he’s gone, she sighs, moving to pick up her bag only to stop.

The book Izuru had been reading before had been left behind, the title of it, “The History of Hope's Peak Academy”, clear on the front cover of it, as well as what she assumed was a picture of the school itself.

Slowly, she picks it up, examining the front before going to the back, reading the summary of it. 

_Hope's Peak Academy, founded in 1812 by Izuru Kamukura, is a school that nourishes the young, talented minds of its students, training them all to improve the world they will be thrown into. Yet like everything else, the school had a darker side to it before the Tragedy struck. From human experimentation to murder, there was no exception to what this school has done. In this novel, no details will be spared to reveal the truth of Hope’s Peak Academy’s past._

Below the summary is the name of the author, someone called Nagisa, as well as a blurred picture of them, yet she doesn’t pay any attention to that. Instead, she only reads the summary over and over again, paying certain attention to the name mentioned in the summary.

She of course knew what Hope’s Peak Academy was, as well as its influence in the tragedy, as everyone did now, but she didn’t know exactly what happened during it. Now though, she wish she did, because at least it would give her some clue to see if Izuru was somehow connected to Hope’s Peak Academy.

She’s about to set the book back down on the table when the voice from before speaks up, telling her that she needed that book, that maybe it could help her save him. It could save Shuichi from what Hope’s Peak had done to him-

”... Wait, who..?”

She quickly shuts her mouth, gritting her teeth as a pounding headache suddenly ripped into her skull. Flashes of something pass through her mind, showing her someone that looked much like Izuru, but instead of the hostile red eyes and long hair, his hair was much shorter, framing warm hazel eyes that were nothing but comforting to her. Yet it was all hidden by a hat on his head.

The hat that she was wearing now, to be exact.

When her eyes come back into focus, she gasps for air, finally seeming to notice that she was leaning on the table in front of her, the lady behind the front desk now at her side, her gentle voice asking her what’s wrong. Yet she doesn’t register it, instead turing to the lady as she pointed to the book in her hand. “... I-I… I want to check this out.”

Whoever Shuichi was, or whoever Izuru was, both were connected to Hope’s Peak, she was sure of it, somehow. The other thing she was sure of was that no matter what, she was going to find Shuichi and save him, as well as Izuru, from something that she wasn’t exactly sure of just yet.

###### 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said that I would update this fic four days from when I posted the first chapter, but something has come up and has made me unable to post it on the 31st. Instead of just prolonging the next chapter to June 1st though, I've decided to post the 2nd chapter now, since it's already done and I've already looked it over several times. 
> 
> Even if it may seem somewhat rushed, I hope you all enjoy the next chapter! I'll try my best to keep to the schedule I've set out from now on, and will post the next chapter four days from now.
> 
> disclaimer, i own nothing

Her feet feel heavy as she walks into the small apartment, quietly shutting the door behind her so she wouldn’t disturb her roommate, who snored loudly on the couch. Yet on the second step she took inside, her roommate quickly shoots up, looking around the apartment before their eyes finally settle on Kaede. A somewhat teasing, yet also tired, smile appearing on their face at the sight of her. “You alright there, Kaede? You look on the verge of collapsing.”

She can only give a small laugh in response, setting her backpack onto the couch before sitting besides her roommate, snatching the remote off the table in front of her before the other could, turning on the TV to some random news channel in some vain hope that the white noise would keep her awake. “I’m fine, Rantaro. Classes today were just…” She’s interrupted by her own yawn, taking a few seconds to cover her mouth with her elbow as she did before continuing. “... They were tough…”

Rantaro hums in comfimination as he leans back into the sofa, crossing his arms as he shut his eyes in thought. “You’re telling me… I swear, the devil was telling me to sign up for most of my classes to be in the morning…” He then opens one of his eyes just a bit in some way to look at Kaede, trying to show that he was paying attention, even if Kaede looked on the verge of passing out. “Anything else happen today? Anything exciting? Actually, let me guess.” He shut his eyes, tapping the side of his head a few times in some imitation of how he thought, although it was still quite accurate. “... Did you manage to spill coffee beans all over the ground at work again?”

Kaede sends a sharp glare in his direction as she crossed her arms before mumbling under her breath as she leaned back onto the couch, tipping her hat to hide her eyes from sight. “No, I didn’t. And nothing really happened besides…” She trails off for a moment, as if in deep thought, before she suddenly shoots off the couch, grabbing her backpack and quickly digging through it. “Oh, wait! Something did happen today!”

At this, Rantaro seems to wake up as well, tossing the blanket off himself and to the side of the couch before facing Kaede again, who was now sitting back on the couch, phone in hand. “Really now? What happened?”

She doesn’t hear him now, instead, she’s reading over the text on her phone. The first one was one that she sent before her first class started hours ago.

_Kaede: Hey Izuru! It’s me, Kaede. You know, the girl you met at the library? Anyway, you left the book you were reading behind, and it seemed interesting, so I checked it out. I hope you don’t mind!_

She intentionally didn’t mention anything about Shuichi and how he seemed similar to him, and neither did she mention the book’s title, yet the anxiety she felt from sending that text still unsettled her hours later. Only a half hour ago, according to her phone at least, did she receive a reply.

_Izuru: I apologize for responding so late. Work had gotten a little bit more out of hand than I expected, but it all turned out alright in the end. And that’s perfectly fine, Kaede. I didn’t really plan on checking that book out anyway. What I really want to know is why you wanted my number in the first place. -Izuru_

”... What kind of person signs off a text with their name like that?”

Kaede nearly jumps at the sudden voice before forcing herself to calm down once she remembered that she wasn’t alone right now. She simply shrugs, already typing out her response as she mumbled, already having a response formed for Izuru’s question. “I don’t know, Rantaro. That’s what I’m trying to find out…”

_Kaede: Well, you seemed like an interesting guy, so I wanted to get your number to try and text you later. Also, you don’t have to sign off your texts like that._

”... Wait, you seriously don’t know who this guy is, and you just gave him your number? Why did you do that?”

Kaede frowns as she sets her phone onto the table, leaning back into the couch as she narrowed her eyes tiredly, glaring at the TV instead of Rantaro, barely able to read the text scrolling along the bottom of it as she once again mumbled out her reply. “No, I asked him to give me his number, and I gave him mine in return…”

Rantaro sighs as he crosses his arms, turning so that he was now facing Kaede completely, legs crossed underneath him. “Kaede, that’s practically the same thing. And you didn’t answer my question either.”

Kaede bit her lip, tipping the bill of her hat down lower so that it hid her face from sight as she thought. Should she tell Rantaro about Shuichi? While he had been her friend since childhood, she felt like he would just brush her off and say that it was simply her imagination. Blaming it on a lack of sleep rather than a fading memory that she isn’t even sure was real.

The growing silence is interrupted by the notification alarm going off on her phone, followed by her quickly snatching it off the table before Rantaro could say anything else, tipping the bill of her hat up so she could read the text.

_Izuru: Ah, thank you. I don’t usually text, so I believed that was the standard procedure for it. As for getting to know me better, I’m not sure what you mean by that. Are you trying to interrogate me? If so, please make it fast and the questions short, as I still have some work to do._

Kaede only felt rising confusion at the other man’s text. Izuru did say that he was a freelance worker, sure, but he never really said what kind of work he did, or has done for that matter. And he thought she was interrogating him as well? What the hell happened to him for him to think something like this?

Maybe it was better to just meet him face to face again..?

”Hey, Rantaro, do you know any nearby places to hang out at, but that aren’t too loud? Like a cafe or something..?”

She wishes she didn’t have to ask the other this, since he already seemed to disapprove of her current relationship with Izuru, but she hasn’t been in the city long enough to know any good places to hang out at besides the library. And while Rantaro had only lived in the city for a few months longer, he did know the locations of most shops, cafes, and restaurants in the area while she only remembered the cafe she worked at, which she refused to go to in fear of seeing a familiar coworker. “... I have a place in mind, but I’ll only tell you if you let me come with you.”

Kaede groaned, but she was already nodding her head as she replied. Rantaro was basically harmless, as well as being the self appointed leader of the “Keep Kaede from Making Dumb Decisions” club. So there probably wouldn’t be any problems in taking him along with her, right? “Fine, if it makes you feel better.”

Rantaro could only smirk, snatching the remote from her as he leaned back on the couch. “Well, since you’re oh so nicely deciding to take me with you, how about that coffee shop that Kirumi works at? It’s only a few blocks away from the campus.”

Kaede thinks about it for a moment before she quickly types what Rantaro suggested into her phone, waiting only a minute for a response before setting her phone back onto the table, a tired sigh leaving her mouth as she lowered the bill of her hat again. “He did say he’s busy, so I guess we’ll have to wait awhile before he responds…”

Rantaro grabs the blanket he set down on the ground earlier, tossing it at Kaede before holding the remote up, ignoring her sharp glare as he did. “Well, how about we watch some TV while we wait?”

Kaede simply nods, adjusting herself so that she was more comfortable, the blanket nearly covering her entire body except what was above her nose, which was blocked off by the bill of her hat.

Yet she can still see a bit, and the words “Ultimate Hunt continues its search for-” flashes across the bottom of the new’s screen before Rantaro changes the channel.

###### 

The street he walks down is dark and deserted, save the occasional car that sometimes passed by, most likely driven by an exhausted office worker. All of it expected, of course, calculated and determined by the scouting he had done this week inside the library, well, at least up until today.

He still couldn’t determine the exact reason why he didn’t just tell the woman to leave him alone. Was it just leftover anxiety from his past life? He had of course been told about how he was once someone else, and had been assured that all traces of the other man had been erased from his mind, yet there had been instances where he doubted that.

After all, it was Hope’s Peak Academy that made him who he was. When have they ever successfully pulled off a huge project such as this without a few errors?

Then again, the flashes of his past life were usually not so intense to the point that it actually threw him off until he saw Kaede at the library. Maybe it was the reason why he agreed to having further conversation with her? But he was leaving the city in a few days as well...

He forces himself to stop thinking about it as he nears his destination, his grip on his suitcase tightening just a bit before he relaxes, his breaths long and even. Only a few buildings away from his target did he press a button onto the earpiece he wore, a low beeping blocking out anything else for a second before the call was answered.

_”Izuru, how far away are you from the target’s residence?”_

”Only a few seconds away before I’m inside, Keebo. And are you sure about the intel you were given? I don’t want a repeat of what happened earlier this afternoon.”

Despite his somewhat harsh tone, the person on the other side of the earpiece gives what could only be described as a sad excuse for a laugh. _”S-Sorry, Izuru. I swear, I had no idea that would happen…”_

Izuru gives only a small grunt in response, shrugging his shoulders just a bit, even if the other couldn’t see, acting as if almost getting killed that morning was a small inconvenience. Although, if it was actually anyone but Keebo, he would probably cut off all ties with them and refuse to work with them from then on at best. He could handle something of that intensity easily enough, it was just that he refuses to work with someone that didn’t do their job properly. 

But the robot built by Hope’s Peak Academy, specifically to help him with his life’s mission, had somewhat grown on him. Or rather, the robot considered him as something akin to a friend while Izuru learned to tolerate the robot’s antics. Yet there was some days where Izuru thought that the robot acted more human than he did, and having that sort of person in his life made it less boring than most days.

After all, living on the same memories Hope's Peak had provided him from the previously talented people eventually became boring as well, regardless of how many there were.

_”... Hey, Izuru, did you hear me? I’m asking you what’s wrong, as it seems you passed the target’s apartment building.”_

Izuru finally snaps out of thought at Keebo’s voice, only now realizing that he was messing with the musical note pins on his suit, his hands recoiling away from them like it was burning the skin off his hands.

He quickly turns around, clenching his now shaking hand into a fist as tried to grasp for some sort of explanation, for once not having any way of explaining to Keebo what exactly he was doing. Why did he even wear those stupid music note pins? It was one of the first things he’d ever recalled having, sure, but he didn’t know exactly why he had them in the first place.

In the end, he simply turns off the earpiece before pocketing it, cutting off all ties with the robot to at least give him some time to think. Keebo would understand, it wouldn’t be the first time he had suddenly cut off all ties with anyone during a mission. He would, most likely, add it up to Izuru trying to concentrate rather than him trying to come up with an explanation to something he himself didn’t understand.

As he walks into the apartment building though, he pushes those thoughts from his mind, ignoring the person at the front desk, who tiredly waved at him as he passed by before leaning back into their chair again.

Izuru didn’t have to look at the directory to see where he was going, heading straight for the stairs, calmly walking up two floors before he arrives at the right one, not passing a single person as he did. Once again, unsurprising.

He quickly enters the floor, walking down a few doors before stopping, removing something wrapped in a thin cloth as he kneeled down in front of a door.

He sets down the suitcase next to him before unwrapping the cloth, revealing multiple lock-picking tools. Without second thought, he grabs what he knows for certain is the right one after only glancing at the lock. Sure enough, a few seconds after tampering with the lock, a dull click resonates from it.

Izuru wraps the lock-picking tools with the cloth as he stands up, pocketing it while he picks up the suitcase with a free hand. With little noise, he enters the apartment, quietly shutting the door behind him before setting the suitcase onto the ground besides him.

It doesn’t take that long for him to find his target, a man that was laying down on the couch, barely visible underneath the blanket, his snores concealing any sound Izuru made as he clicks open the suitcase, grabbing the only thing inside before shutting it.

He only needs to take a few steps across the barren floor before he’s in front of the man, gripping the object in his hand tightly as he looked down at him.

If there was one thing Izuru never understood, it was how a man such as this could sleep well at night after hunting down and killing children, just because they were incredibly good at something they loved. He could feel a hint of something in his heart as he holds up the knife in his hand to the man’s throat, something that twisted his heart and almost caused him to scowl.

He only realizes that what he was feeling was contempt as he slits the man’s throat.

The man immediately wakes up, his hand shooting to his neck as his eyes shot open. He doesn’t even seem to notice Izuru as he gasps for air, warm blood spilling through his hand, staining the couch and blanket.

Izuru makes no move to stop the man from panicking, simply watching, waiting for the man to die. He only moves once the man stops struggling, his breaths sounding like he was drowning as blood pooled out of his mouth, slowly going limp before he goes unconscious. But he only does so to check whether or not the man’s heart was still beating, laying a gentle hand against the other’s chest.

Once the life giving pulse was gone, Izuru moves away, leaving the body behind. Izuru knew the man had no family to speak of, and at most, it would take a few days before the body was discovered and by then, he would be long gone.

He puts the knife back inside the suitcase before picking it up, smoothing out the creases in his suit before walking outside of the apartment, withdrawing the cloth with the lock-picking tools inside so he could lock the door.

Once he was done, he left the way he came, putting the lock-picking equipment away, as well as taking out his phone and the earpiece in the process. He looked down at his phone after putting the earpiece in his ear, checking to see if Hope’s Peak had sent him anything new while he spoke. “Keebo, it’s done.”

_”Ah, that’s… That’s good to hear. Izuru…”_

For a second, Izuru wonders if Keebo was actually upset at being hung up on in a middle of a conversation, before recalling that Keebo never really supported his methods in the first place. Unlike Izuru, the robot saw it as a waste of life, even if the victim was a person that made it their life’s goal to hunt down and kill others.

Yet the robot did not do or say anything to convince Izuru of another way to deal with the Ultimate Hunt, which truly showed that he wasn’t human, just a robot that was created by Hope’s Peak Academy.

For a few minutes, Izuru doesn’t say anything more, as he usually did, instead taking the time to wait for his phone to turn on as he leaves the building, careful of where he was walking as he stared down at the screen.

_”... Uhm… Izuru, you do know that I’m supposed to watch over you, right?”_

Izuru only gives a small grunt in confirmation, now focusing on his phone as the home screen finally appeared, ignoring the sleeping lobby attendant as he walked by them. _”Well… That includes reading your text messages, and… This Kaede person isn’t someone relating to your assignment, is she?”_

For the second time that day, Izuru freezes up, the musical note pins on his suit now burning through the fabric and into his skin. Unlike last time though, he is finally able to say something, his voice in its usual monotone as he forced himself to walk outside the building, even if his chest felt like it was on fire. “No, Keebo, she is not.”

A dull hum echoes behind Keebo’s line, followed by a silence that only lasts for a few seconds before it is interrupted. _“If she’s not, why are you having conversations with her? Do you believe she’s working for the Ultimate Hunt?”_

This time, another unfamiliar feeling rose inside Izuru, something sad and almost cruel, yet he forces himself to breath, ignoring how the burning sensation the musical note pins had grown with each breath.

It takes him awhile to speak, but he successfully maintains his usual monotone voice, navigating to his phone’s texts as he did. “No Keebo, I do not believe that. It’s strange though, you usually wouldn’t accuse a stranger of such a thing without any proof.”

The silence that resonates between the two is deafening, but Izuru manages to read the text Kaede had sent him a mere half hour ago.

_Kaede: of course not! I just want to hang out with you and get to know you better! How about we head to this cafe I know tomorrow, about the same time we met at the library? We can talk there instead of texting, since you’re not that used to texting yet._

Izuru only thinks about it for a second before he decides on a response, something that shows he would think about it for awhile, but it’s interrupted by Keebo’s suddenly sharp voice. _”Izuru, do not answer that text. I did not want to reveal this to you, but it seems that Kaede is on The List, and I feel it will become troubling if you talk to her more.”_

At those words, Izuru’s hands froze, his frown somehow deepening at Keebo’s words. Of course he knew what The List was, it had been one of the first things taught to him once he could finally use the talents he had. Yet while he did memorize each person on The List, as well as why they were being targeted by Hope’s Peak, Kaede Akamatsu was not on that list, he was sure of it.

Did he assume correctly when he believed Kaede was just some sort of spy sent by the people running the Ultimate Hunt? Was she just trying to get information about him? No, that can’t be right, she was too open, almost to the point that he would call her naive. Yet she didn’t seem stupid, just too friendly and talkative for her own good.

Then again, she wouldn’t be on The List for no reason, and whatever reason it may be, he was going to find out what it was. If it meant finding out about it behind Hope’s Peak Academy’s back, then so be it.

”Hey, Keebo, can you do me a few favors?”

 _”Hm? Ah, well…”_ The robot almost seemed surprised by the sudden voice, the silence stretching on for a few seconds more before he finally makes up his mind. _”It depends. What do you want?”_

Izuru swipes through a few contacts on his phone before finding the right one. “In a few seconds, I will send you my own copy of The List. Cross reference it with the copy Hope’s Peak has provided you.”

 _”How are you going to..?”_ Before the robot could finish, Izuru hit send on the text, causing a small beep to resound on Keebo’s side of the line. He says nothing for a few seconds before he sighs. _”I see… Alright, I can do that. What’s the other thing?”_

__

Before Izuru responds, he goes back to his contacts, spending a few seconds to find the right one before he finally speaks. “Keebo, if Hope’s Peak needs me to do something, tell me I’m busy doing recon.”

__

Even if Keebo was a robot, Izuru was pretty sure the robot was almost exasperated at this point, yet he was also used to Izuru’s strange favors. The robot gives another long, tired sigh, yet his voice makes it clear that he was ready to help Izuru. _”And who, exactly, are we stalking this time?”_

__

For now, Izuru simply chooses to ignore that comment. Instead, he chooses to finally respond to Kaede’s text before he pockets his phone. “... Kaede Akamatsu.”

__

_"I should have known..."_ The robot's tone holds a hint of regret in it, as for why, Izuru could probably guess as to why. _"Let me guess, you want me to keep those text messages between you and Kaede a secret from them too?_

__

Izuru gives what sounds like his own version of a sharp laugh, although it sounds more like a scoff. "You've read my mind, Keebo."

__

The robot mumbles something under his breath before speaking up, the regret still somewhat present in his voice. _"Alright, Izuru. I'll contact you later once I'm done cross referencing the lists. Until then, stay safe."_

__

"You as well, Keebo." With that, he turns off and then pockets the earpiece. For a moment, he wonders about the emotion he was feeling when Keebo asked him if Kaede was part of the Ultimate Hunt. It wasn't something simple, like sadness or anger, but something more complex, a mess of emotions all mixed into one.

__

It takes him awhile to realize what exactly the emotion was, and once he does, he freezes up, the music note pins once again burning against his chest as he stares ahead of him in slight disbelief.

__

What he had felt was betrayal at the thought of Kaede being part of the Ultimate Hunt, as well as disbelief at the very thought of it. Somehow, he now knew there was no way she was part of the Ultimate Hunt.

__

Why was he feeling such a thing for a person he had met only today?

__

He forces himself to keep moving, shaking his head as he moved. He would find out everything tomorrow when he met Kaede, he rationalized.

__

With that in mind, he heads towards his apartment building, unknowingly gripping the music note pins on his chest as he walked home in the darkness.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I apologize for my abrupt change in schedule, and I hope you all enjoyed the new update. As always, feedback is welcomed/appreciated, and I hope you all have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof this was probably the hardest part to write in the entire fic tbh. I don't know why though.
> 
> disclaimer, i own nothing

Despite Kaede’s shift ending a bit later than expected, Izuru was not in the cafe when she arrived with Rantaro. Although, once she looked down at her phone did she notice that she had actually been early in her rush to get there, and she could only groan in annoyance as she sat down by one of the many tables, placing her backpack on the ground beside her while Rantaro laughed. “Hey, at least you’re not late, right?”

Kaede quickly waved him off, using her other hand to tip her hat down over her face again as she tried to sink into her chair. Once again, Rantaro simply laughs, waving at the woman behind the counter, who she assumed was Kirumi, as he sat at one of the other tables inside the cafe.

As Kirumi walked over to Rantaro, distracting the man with some small talk Kaede could barely hear, she slowly sat back up, finally taking a look around the cafe as she lifted the bill of her hat.

Despite its small size, it almost held a victorian air with it, mostly due to the wallpaper decorated with elegant curves and dark colors that matched the chairs and tables. It actually did fit Izuru’s outfit somewhat. It also made her feel bad to wear her work clothes there, which was just a simple pair of jeans and a pink t-shirt. 

Speaking of Izuru…

She took one quick glance around the cafe before digging into her backpack, taking out the book she had checked out the day before. Already, she was halfway through it, marked by the small bookmark she had made the night before. While she was quite exhausted from the binge reading, what she felt from finally getting somewhere with figuring out Izuru’s identity gave her enough energy to just read a bit more, opening the book so she was at the spot she stopped at last night, and while the subject was horrifying, some of the other content in the book was equally as bad.

_Around 2010, Hope’s Peak launched a project in the hope of creating the perfect talented specimen, also known as the Ultimate Hope. This was accomplished by using reserve course students as test subjects, performing lobotomy as well as various other surgeries all over their body so they were physically capable of performing a talent._

_Despite their best attempts, there was truly only one successful test subject, who would later go on to become a remnant of despair. This one subject’s name was originally Hajime Hinata, which was then changed to-_

”... What are you reading there?”

Kaede nearly jumped at the voice, giving a small, somewhat terrified yell as she shut the book on instinct, quickly turning around to face who spoke before instantly relaxing. “...” She laughed nervously as she moved the book, taking it off the table and putting it back into her backpack as she spoke. ”I-Izuru! I didn’t hear you come in. When did you get here?”

For a split second, Izuru continues to look down at her with a somewhat questioning look, an eyebrow raised just a bit, giving the somewhat stoic man an almost comical look. Yet in the same amount of time, it vanishes as he turns just a bit, taking the seat right in front of Kaede, causing the bill of her hat to hide half of his face from sight. “Don’t worry, I only got here a few seconds ago.” He leans forward a bit so that his eyes were now visible to her, that ever present frown still on his face. “... Why did you pick this place anyway?”

”... Well…” Kaede laughed nervously as she twirled a lock of hair with her finger, looking off to the side a bit in embarrassment, as hiding under her hat was clearly no longer an option. “I got this place recommended to me by a good friend of mine, mostly because I just moved here awhile ago, and I’m not that used to this city yet…”

Izuru only hums in understanding as he leans back in his seat, crossing his arms as he looks around at the somewhat gothic cafe. Kaede almost feels her heart beat faster as his eyes landed on Rantaro, who was still talking to Kirumi, his gaze lingering there for a moment before it continues, allowing Kaede to give a small, quiet sigh in relief. It was then that Kaede remembered why exactly she invited Izuru, suddenly sitting up in her seat as she balled her hands into fists. “Now it’s your turn, Izuru!”

Izuru’s gaze snaps back to Kaede at her yell, eyebrows raised in question, causing Kaede to once again groan in frustration. “Aw geez, don’t tell me you forgot about my text!”

”... No, I remember why you invited me here.” His questioning look remains as he crosses his arms, cupping his mouth one with one as he looked off to the side just a bit in thought, his voice somewhat muffled by it as he mumbled. “... I just don’t understand why you’re so persistent…”

A nagging feeling at the back of Kaede’s mind rises at the pose, as if it was familiar to her, but it’s overridden by her panic, biting her lip as she tipped the bill of her hat down just a bit. Should she just tell him the truth about those flashes of memory she had? About Shuichi? Or about Hope’s Peak?

... No, at least not yet. For now, she had to get information about his past, but with the way the conversation was going, it didn’t seem likely. She had to find someway for him to answer her questions…

”I-I just…” She struggled to find some way to continue the conversation when it suddenly struck her, lifting her hat so her eyes were now easily visible to the other. “I just want to get to know you better, okay? But I don’t think that’d be fair, so let’s take turns telling some stuff about each other.”

At first, Izuru seemed hesitant, only glancing at Kaede for a moment before looking off to the side once again, his mouth still hidden from sight. The familiar pose only caused the headache to grow though, almost making it unbearable until Izuru suddenly stopped, giving a reluctant sigh as he sat up straight. “... Very well, I guess it’s my turn then.” Kaede didn’t have enough time to celebrate her victory, her eyes widening just a bit before Izuru continued. “I’ve only lived in this city for a short time as well, but I intend to leave in a few months from now for work related reasons.”

Kaede barely has enough time to register what Izuru said before Kirumi, apparently done with talking to Rantaro, walked over towards the two of them, a notepad in hand as she stood besides the table. “I apologize for not coming to take your order before, I had another matter to attend to.”

”Ah, n-no, it’s okay…”

Kirumi doesn’t seem to hear Kaede’s reply, or simply ignores it as she removes a pen from her apron. “Now, what will you two be having?”

Quickly realizing that trying to change the other’s mind would be futile, Kaede instead sheepishly gave her order. “I’ll just have a cup of tea…”

Despite not specifying which, Kirumi quickly wrote down something on her notepad before turning to Izuru. “And you?”

”I won’t…” Suddenly, the man flinched, cupping a hand over his ear as he turned away from both Kirumi and Kaede just a bit. No matter how far Kaede leaned though, she could not see what just happened to the other man, and the other’s abnormally long hair didn’t help either.

Just when she’s about to ask him what’s wrong, he turns back around, removing his hand from his ear as he did. It was only then that Kaede saw how tired Izuru seemed, small bags under his eyes that Kaede somehow didn’t notice before now prominent as Izuru spoke to Kirumi. “... Actually, I’ll have some black coffee please.”

If Kirumi noticed how exhausted Izuru was, she didn’t say anything about it, writing something down onto her notepad before turning, a somewhat quiet and delicate “one moment” leaving her mouth as she vanished through a door behind the counter.

Kaede barely paid attention to her now though, lifting her hat to get a closer look at Izuru’s face, almost to the point that she removed the hat completely from her head, with said man now looking to the side in thought. “... Hey, have you been getting enough sleep lately?

”Hm?” He began to face her when she suddenly noticed how close she was to him, nearly pushing the chair back with how fast she sat back down. He didn’t seem to register it though, a somewhat confused look on his face as he processed Kaede’s question. “... My line of work usually doesn’t allow me to sleep for long periods of time.”

She can’t help the somewhat horrified gasp from leaving her mouth. “A-Are you serious?!” All too quickly, her look of horror changes to an angry pout. “What kind of job makes you stay up so late? You should be at least be asleep before ten!”

Izuru grunts, almost sounding like his own version of a laugh, the confused look on his face quickly vanishing. “Says the girl that texts a guy she just met late into the night. Maybe you should take a page from your own book, Miss Akamatsu.”

”H-Hey! I wasn’t just texting you! I had to work on some papers for a class!” Izuru opens his mouth a bit to respond, but Kaede barely registers it as she continues her rant. “Do you even have enough time to eat breakfast in the morning?”

Kaede half expects the other man to narrow his eyes and to scoff at her question before saying that of course he had time for breakfast in the morning. The other half of her expects him to blush in embarrassment as he tries to hide under the bill of a hat.

What really happens is a strange mixture of both as Izuru looks off to the side, narrowing his eyes at the wall while the rest of his face remains blank, as if he was trying to not give anything away. Yet the silence is deafening, and Kaede’s anger quickly fades away to disbelief. “... W-Wait, you really don’t eat breakfast-?”

Before she can finish, Kirumi returns to their table through the doors she had exited through earlier. She sets their cups down onto the table quickly before bowing just a bit with a warm, almost motherly smile on her face. “Once again, I apologize for the wait. I hope you enjoy, and let me know when you want the bill.”

Kaede thanks the other woman as she grabs the cup Kirumi had set down in front of her, ignoring the stinging, burning sensation that courses through her hand as she watched Izuru, who grabbed the cup with a mumbled thank you and then began drinking the boiling hot beverage without so much as waiting for it to cool.

Her eyes widened at the sight, too shocked to say anything as Izuru set the cup back onto the table, seemingly unaware of Kaede’s shocked look as he resumed his staring contest with the wall. “... Do you mind if I asked you a somewhat personal question?”

Kaede blinks a few more times in shock before she registers Izuru’s question, forcing an uneasy smile onto her face as she nods, the tea in her hands the last thing on her mind now. “Y-Yeah, go ahead…”

”Are you, in any way, affiliated with the Ultimate Hunt?”

Like yesterday, images flash through her mind. Unlike the one’s yesterday though, the ones filled with warmth and kindness, these are filled by terror. By people with no faces that chase not only her, but also others, yelling at her as they brandished bloodstained weapons.

As quickly as it crosses her mind, it vanishes, and she once again find herself replying without much thought. “... I…” She takes a deep breath as she raises a hand to her head, shutting her eyes as she did. “... Don’t think so..?”

Izuru finally looks back at her, red eyes narrowed in that seemingly everlasting confusion. Right when he’s opening his mouth to ask more though, the sound of the cafe’s front door nearly being thrown open echoes across the room, followed by an all too familiar voice. “... Oh, hey Kaede! What are you doing here?”

Kaede turns to see Kaito Momota, someone she had quickly became friends with thanks to some similar college classes because, according to Kaito, he needed to learn some music to communicate with space life… Or at least, that’s what he told her.

Still, he wasn’t that bad. He shared her enthusiasm and friendly nature, and she had no problem teaching him about music while he in turn taught her about the stars and space.

With that in mind, she gives him a somewhat tired smile, titling the bill of her hat up a bit so she could see all of his face as she spoke. “Nothing, I’m just-”

She watches as Kaito’s eyes drift to the side a bit towards Izuru, before he completely stops in his tracks, his friendly grin quickly turning into a somewhat embarrassed frown as he held up his hands in defense. Although Kaede couldn’t really see Izuru now, she could only guess that he was sending his trademark glare in the other’s direction, and at that point, Kaede could only somewhat pity Kaito “Oh, shit, uh… I didn’t know you had a boyfriend, Kaede…”

”B-Boyfriend?!”

Kaede looks back at Izuru in disbelief, for a second thinking that the other would be too flustered to speak, a strange sense of deja vu coming over her. Yet Izuru only glances at her for a second, taking another sip from his boiling hot coffee before he looks back towards Kaito. “We’re not in that sort of relationship. We’ve just met yesterday and are simply talking in some attempt to forge a friendship. Or at least, that’s what I believe.”

It takes Kaede a few seconds for her to register what exactly Izuru said in her slightly panicked fueled daze, but she eventually figured it out, nodding her head as she turned to face Kaito once again, that uneasy smile returning to her face. “Y-Yeah, that’s right!”

Despite what both of them said, Kaito seemed unconvinced, narrowing his eyes at Kaede before he turns to Izuru, then back to Kaede. “Really? Cuz it looks like a date to me.”

Izuru simply scoffs at Kaito’s remark, leaving Kaede to shake her head in an almost exhausted manner as she shut her eyes. “Kaito, it’s not…”

Before Kaede can stop him, Kaito drags a chair from another table before placing it besides Izuru, sitting down before either person could protest. “Well, either way, might as well introduce myself to the new guy if you’re gonna be friends with him.” With a dazzling smile, Kaito holds out his hand towards Izuru, his jacket’s sleeve almost hitting the table in the process, revealing the pitch black fabric inside the sleeve. “The name’s Kaito Momota! Yours?”

As Kaede expected, Izuru did not react that much to Kaito’s introduction. He simply stared down at the hand for a moment with an unimpressed look before he faces Kaito once again, taking another sip of his boiling hot coffee before he returns the handshake. “... Izuru. Charmed.”

”... Hey Kaede?” Kaito leaned towards Kaede a bit, nudging her with his elbow as he stage whispered towards her. “... Is he always this... stoic..?”

Kaede took another look at Izuru as he lets go of Kaito's hand, with said man pretending he hadn’t heard what Kaito just said. At first, she couldn’t help but agree with Kaito about his opinion of Izuru. To an outsider, the long haired man was somewhat cold to the point it was almost cruel, his gaze holding a somewhat hostile feel to it that just wouldn’t go away.

Yet Kaede had a feeling… No, not that, she knew that deep down, Izuru truly wasn’t that sort of man. Or rather, he used to be quite different, although she didn’t truly know why. “... I think that Izuru is just… Misunderstood?”

”Misunderstood? By what- Ow!” Kaito nearly jumps in his seat, reaching down to rub his leg, presumably where he was kicked, before glaring at Kaede. “Man, what did I say?!”

Kaede quickly shakes her head, holding up her hands in surrender as she gave a nervous laugh. “I-It wasn’t me!”

”Then who the hell..?” Kaito’s voice trailed off a bit as he looked towards Izuru, who was now looking down at his phone, obviously pretending to scroll through something to avoid eye contact with them. “... Man, you don’t seem like it, but you’re kind of an ass.”

For a second, before Izuru takes another sip of his coffee, Kaede swears that there’s a hint of a smirk on his face, but any sign of one vanishes as quickly as it appears once he lowers his coffee back onto the table. “Well, it takes one to know one.”

Kaede can’t help but laugh at Izuru’s words, causing Kaito to give a somewhat betrayed look in her direction. “K-Kaede, I thought you were on my side…”

”S-Sorry, Kaito…”

Yet it was evident by how she continued laughing that she was not sorry at all. Kaito sighed just a bit as he turned to Izuru once again, narrowing his eyes towards the man as he stared at Izuru, who was still looking down at his phone. “... Okay, but seriously though.” He leans forward in his chair, laying his crossed arms against the table. “... Have we met before..? You seem familiar...”

Kaede’s eyes widen a bit at the question, because it had been one of the first things she had asked Izuru when they first met. Could it be some sort of coincidence that Kaito would say such a thing..?

No, it couldn’t be. Yet the thing that prevents her from asking anymore questions now is the very cause of her confusion.

Izuru freezes up for a second before he mumbles something under his breath, his hand once again reaching to his ear as he puts his phone away, eventually speaking up as he looks away from Kaito. “It seems that nearly every stranger I bump into lately has met me before…”

Both Kaede and Izuru seem to jump at Kaito’s sudden laugh, with the latter narrowing his eyes towards the other man. “Really now? Man, I wish I was that popular! A word of advice though…” He stands up, putting his chair back where it was before reaching forward before Izuru could react, giving the other man a rough pat on the back, causing Izuru to flinch just a bit. “You should try to stop acting so uptight. I can’t talk from experience, but I can tell it must be stressful as hell…”

”...” For once, Kaede sees the hostile look in Izuru’s eyes fade away just a bit before he looks down at the coffee in his hands. “... I’ll try my best, Kaito.”

Kaito laughs as he gives another somewhat rough pat on Izuru’s back. “That’s the spirit!” He then waves towards Kaede with a wide smile, retreating towards the cafe’s back room as he did. “Well, see you later Kaede. I gotta get to work!”

Kaede barely manages to give the other a proper response, only managing a small wave in return as she looks at Izuru, who only continues to stare down at his coffee.

She’d only seen him like this once before. Just yesterday, inside the library when she had asked him about the musical note pins on his suit. Even thinking about them now causes her gaze to shift just a bit towards them.

Why exactly was she so fascinated with those pins in the first place? Her major did involve music, and it was still a huge part in her life, but it wasn’t like she had seen anything like those pins before.

”... Hey, Kaede?”

Her gaze snaps away from the pins and back towards Izuru’s face only for her to once again get lost in a sea of red, yet instead of his eyes holding hostility, it was almost warm. It somewhat reminded her of a fire. “... I've been wondering about this for awhile, but... Where did you get that hat?”

Against her will, Kaede finds herself digging her nails into her hands as she shut her eyes, what seemed like a memory crossing her mind once again, yet this one is more vivid, as if it happened only recently.

The room is barely lit, everything is covered in a dull purple light that barely illuminates what’s in the room, yet she can clearly see Shuichi sitting next to her. She reaches forward and plucks the hat off his head before putting it on her own, blocking out nearly half of her vision now but revealing the other’s warm amber eyes.

He says something to her, but it sounds like he’s saying it underwater, his speech garbled to the point it barely sounded human. Yet the person in her memory hears it.

_“Yeah, I guess you’re right… Oh, wait. I probably can’t wear these either… How about we trade? Your hat for these? I probably can’t keep them anyway, since they’re part of my talent and all..”_

The version of herself in this memory holds something out to the raven haired boy, something gold and shiny and shaped like music notes that the boy looks down at and then takes with a warm smile and then-

She opens her eyes to see Izuru, concern clearly etched across his face as he gently shook her shoulders in some attempt to grab her attention. “... Kaede..? Are you okay..?”

She can’t hear him though, all she hears is each boom of her pounding headache as she looks down at the music note pins on his suit, ones that were still the bright gold they had been nearly a year ago when she gave them to him.

”... Shuichi..?”

Immediately, Izuru’s hands retract from her shoulders, almost as if he had just touched boiling water. For once, his eyes are wide in surprise as he stares at her. “... How do you know that name?”

Kaede feels her mouth go dry at his words, the start of tears itching at the corner of her eyes as she stared at Izuru. No, the amber eyed boy she saw in her memories couldn’t be the cold man in front of her, it just couldn’t be.

Yet the longer she looked at him, the more she started to notice some similarities, like the way he looked earlier while he was in thought, as well as the shape of his face and body. Hell, even parts of his outfit seemed somewhat similar to the one he wore a year ago.

But she can not form any words to say to Izuru, and she doesn’t get the chance to as Izuru flinches, raising a hand to his ear once again as he frowned. He doesn’t move for a few seconds before he quickly stands, reaching into his pocket to take out a ten dollar bill, placing it onto the table before he moves to the exit of the cafe. “... I have to go. I’m sorry, Kaede.”

No, she couldn’t let him leave again. She barely finds the strength to speak as she stands up, reaching up towards the other man as he walks out the door. “Sh-Shuichi, wait-!”

She barely manages to grab his hand, only to nearly recoil at the touch of scars that seemed to crisscross his hand like Frankenstein's monster.

Yet she forces herself to hang onto his hand tight while he only glares back at her, that hostile look from before returning to his eyes. “... Kaede, let go of me.”

Instead of scaring Kaede somewhat like the other times though, it just made her feel weirded out, as it didn’t fit the man’s usually kind face. Or at least, the one in her memories. She only tightens her grip on the other’s wrist, ignoring the feeling of scar tissue as she shakes her head. “N-No, Shuichi, I won’t let go!”

”... Kaede, listen to me.” Instead of pushing her away now, he actually tugs her a bit closer to him until he’s right next to her. “Shuichi Saihara? That useless Ultimate Detective?” His voice was a whisper, almost completely empty as he spoke in a monotone that sent shivers down Kaede's spine. “He is dead, Miss Akamatsu.”

Kaede can’t help the way her breath hitches in her throat, now unable to breath, feeling her grasp loosen from around Izuru’s hand. “... N-No…” She suddenly tightens her grip around Izuru’s hand more, actually causing the other man to flinch just a bit in pain, yet Kaede doesn’t notice it. She only feels a fierce determination to prove her old friend wrong. “I-If he’s dead, then why do you wear those?!”

She uses her free hand to point accusingly at the music note pins on Izuru’s suit, and this time, she’s shocked at how Izuru flinches back once again, quickly looking away from her towards the black wallpaper. “... I… I-I don’t…”

”Hey, Kaede..?”

Kaede feels Rantaro’s hand on her shoulder before she turns to see the concerned look on his face. He quickly shies back once she does turn to him though, holding up his hands in a surrender position as he quietly spoke. “Hey, easy there. Just take a deep breath, alright? I think you’re scaring the poor guy…”

It takes a few seconds for Kaede to realize what exactly Rantaro was saying, and only a few seconds more for her to realize that he was actually right. Her grip on Izuru’s hand loosens a bit without much thought, her eyes widening as she turns back to face Izuru. “... O-Oh god, I’m so…”

Too late. He takes advantage of Kaede’s loosening grip to escape her grasp, moving so fast that his movements didn’t even seem human. It takes only a second for him to get out of the cafe, and another second more for him to escape into the outside world.

Without a doubt, just by watching him, Kaede knew she couldn’t catch up to him. Whatever inhuman thing Hope’s Peak had done to her friend, he could obviously outrun her now.

It was then that the tears finally spilled from her eyes, unable to feel Rantaro wrap an arm around her shoulders, asking her questions while trying to reassure her at the same time.

She had, once again, lost Shuichi Saihara, and there was probably no chance that she would see him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo! can you believe we're already halfway there? i cant. I hope you all enjoyed the new update for this fic! Once again, the next update will be four days from now. Feedback is welcomed and appreciated, and I hope you all have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that this took so long! I actually wanted to rewrite this section of the fic, and finals are a huge nightmare for me rn, but is is technically the 7th here still. I will update 4 days after today though, that is a promise. Since it's 11pm rn I'll probably edit this with a finer tooth comb in the morning though. I hope you all enjoy the newest update!
> 
> disclaimer: i own nothing

”And you’re positive that this is all the correct data?”

_”Indeed it is. I have checked about three times to see if the data Hope’s Peak Academy had on each subject was correct before sending it to you.”_

Keebo’s voice sounds somewhat tired, yet Izuru finds himself reading over the casefile one more time, for now ignoring the robot’s tone as he read it over.

So far though, what the robot had collected seemed to be correct. The locations of his former 14 classmates did match up to the quick searches he made for their somewhat fabricated identities. It almost made Izuru scoff at how some of their past lives had somehow gotten into their new ones, with the former anthropologist studying human culture and the former magician becoming an entertainer.

Still, it seemed to have worked, as they had yet to be killed by the Ultimate Hunt, so Izuru couldn’t truly criticize Hope’s Peak in that area, even if the device they had used to erase memories, apparently, lost its effects when exposed to stimuli in the brain that occurs when seeing some sort of trigger. That trigger being him.

And, if he was right, Hope’s Peak would have it so that he’d have to kill them all eventually as well.

He feels his hand bunch into a fist as he remembered the horrified look on Kaede’s face once she finally knew who he was. His breath almost hitches in his throat at the memory, some part of him feeling nothing but heartbreak at the thought of hurting Kaede in any way.

It seemed that Hope’s Peak had failed in getting rid of any remnant of Shuichi Saihara, if what Izuru was feeling now was anything to speak of. Once again, despite all of their attempts, it seemed that they failed.

For once though, he’d have to thank them for their failure.

He frowns as he reads over Tsumugi Shirogane’s profile on his laptop, reading it over one more time, his fist uncurling, his brief anger disappearing before he finally speaks. “... Are you sure? Because apparently, according to this, Tsumugi Shirogane is in some sort of cult relating to the Ultimate Hunt?”

Izuru hears what seems like the shuffling of papers on Keebo’s side as the robot digs through the hundreds of information he had gathered before he finds the right one. _”Nope, it’s correct. Unfortunately, it seems that Tsumugi had gotten into some sort of branch that believes in the despair Enoshima represented during the Tragedy. They practically treat Enoshima like a God.”_

Izuru curses under his breath as he shakes his head, running a hand down his face as he did. “That’s… I don’t know how to fix this…”

_”... Wait, what exactly do you want to fix?”_

Instead of answering, Izuru ignored the robot’s question, wracking his brain for some sort of solution, anything at all to the problem he had inadvertently created. The robot’s voice eventually became dull background noise as he picks up the musical note pins he had set down on the table earlier once he had finally made it home, looking down at them as he tried to think of some sort of solution.

They don’t burn his skin anymore, which was probably a stupid observation. After all, the burning sensation was simply his imagination, yet the root cause of it was something different altogether. Did he feel it because of guilt? Because of the random phantom memories of a past he didn’t recall having? Or maybe because of Kaede..?

”... Keebo.”

Whatever Keebo was saying before stopped at Izuru’s voice. Yet for the next few seconds, Izuru, for once, didn’t know exactly what to say. “... How was I…” He pauses for a moment, contemplating his question before he corrects himself. “... How was Shuichi Saihara made into the second Ultimate Hope?”

For a few minutes, Keebo says nothing, making Izuru believe that the robot wouldn’t even answer his question and simply ignore it. After all, there were a few instances in the past such as that, but the robot had eventually answered his questions. With this though, he probably won’t get an answer unless he actually dug for his own information.

He begins to focus on his laptop once again when there’s a dull beep sound from his earpiece, followed by the familiar voice of his robotic comrade. _”... It was…”_ The robot gives a small cough, as if nervous about what he had to say. _”... A patchwork job. Hope’s Peak Academy wanted an Ultimate Hope, and they wanted it fast. Simple lobotomy would prove ineffective, but memory manipulation would work in giving the subject the knowledge of their talents, as well as some remnant emotions that were attached to the talent’s former owner. But that wasn’t enough.”_ Once again, Keebo pauses, allowing Izuru to properly digest the information he had just given him, before continuing. _”Shuichi Saihara had to undergo extensive surgery so his body would be compatible with the talents he was given. Physical augmentation surgery was conducted, with somewhat damaging side effects, including various scars, yet also proved to be overall successful.”_

The silence that ensues is suffocating, the apartment suddenly feeling smaller to Izuru as he clenched the musical note pins in his hands tighter. He tries to think of what talents he has now that could be connected to the people he could actually recall now, trying to place a face to the person he stole their passion from.

According to the info he had, Kaito was studying astrology in college. Did that mean he was the former ultimate astronaut? And what about Rantaro? It seemed that he was studying multiple cultures around the world, so did that mean he was the anthropologist. No, that couldn’t be it, Korekiyo was doing something similar as well… Perhaps he was the ultimate survivor then?

At least Kaede’s wasn’t that hard to figure out, at least according to what he knew about her so far. It was obvious that her former title was the ultimate pianist, which probably meant that she had given him, no, she had given Shuichi the musical note pins at some point.

The thought of that makes him clutch the musical note pins in his hand tighter, almost to the point it broke through the scars and stitches in his skin. Yet the pain didn’t make him stop, and eventually, the sharp end of the music note pin breaks through skin.

The burning sensation immediately returns, and the only thing that stops him from throwing the pins away is the memory of Kaede’s frightened face as she said the name of the ultimate detective.

He had to, no, he was going to fix this.

"Keebo,” his voice isn’t as unsure sounding as before, almost more determined as he puts the metal pin in his other hand, simply wiping the blood off his hand with the sleeve of his suit jacket. “How did my predecessor become his original self?”

_”... A-Ah, well… That was with the help of this program created to rehabilitate the remnants of despair… W-Wait.”_ For once, Izuru detects something that seems like fear and horror in the robot’s voice. _”You’re not thinking about..? Y-You don’t even know if that’ll work!”_

”Do you even know who you’re talking to?” Izuru scoffs, yet his voice quickly softens in response to the robot’s fear, as if he was attempting to comfort the machine in some way. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll try to think of a way to get you in the program… Whatever it’s called. And you know I’ll have multiple backup plans in place.”

Something like a sigh of relief leaves the robot’s mouth at Izuru’s words. _”... I… I can accept that. But this plan of yours, it involves each and every one of them, and I don’t think they’ll all agree with it.”_

The data he had gotten about Shirogane flashed through Izuru’s mind for a moment, leaving behind a dull, sick sense of uneasiness, but Izuru quickly shakes it off, clutching the music pins in his undamaged hand tighter. “I’ll make them agree, but before we can continue, tell me more about this program, Keebo.”

_”A-Ah, of course! Well, the name of the program, is…”_ The sound of multiple beeps and papers moving fill the other side of the earpiece as Keebo attempts to find more data on the program before he eventually finds it. _”... It’s called the Neo World Program”._

###### 

____

It takes awhile for Kaede to finally drag her apartment’s key out of her bag, mostly because it was buried under dozens upon dozens of papers for college. Yeah, Rantaro was probably home, and it would save her a lot of trouble just to ring the bell, but the poor guy was probably asleep already, and she had felt awful the last time she had to wake him up.

____

So she toughs it out, readjusting the hat on her head before using the key to unlock and open the door before walking inside, quietly shutting the door behind her. She’s about to walk down the hallway to her room before she finally notices the person sitting on the couch in front of the TV.

____

Her bag falls out of her hand onto the ground below with a dull thunk, her eyes wide, mouth agape as she stared at the man she had not seen for three months. She feels her body immediately tense up, getting ready to sprint, even if she already knew she couldn’t outrun him.

____

What stops her is how unusual Izuru seemed though. Instead of simply sitting there in his usual stoic manner, he leans back on the couch just a bit, his eyes completely shut, as if Kaede wasn’t there. In his lap is something that causes Kaede’s heart to skip a beat.

____

It’s the small piano keyboard she had kept in her room before, and it takes a moment longer for her to realize that Izuru is playing it. The tune is somewhat familiar, yet she doesn’t really register it in her panic. It takes her a lot longer for her to finally form words, barely audible over the sound of the piano. “... Wh-Where’s Rantaro..?”

____

No answer, the sound of the piano’s familiar tune continues throughout the small apartment. Once again, Kaede tries to speak, this time with another question. “... W-Why are you here..?” Yet again, no answer. Although, this time, this only angered Kaede, her voice slightly raised now, almost at a yell. “A-Are you here to kill me, Kamukura? Is that it?!”

____

Kaede nearly jumps as the wrong note echoes throughout the apartment, followed by Izuru’s eyes snapping open. She swears that the man’s eyes are the golden amber they once were before she sees the blood red once again.

____

”...” Izuru slowly looks back down at the piano in his lap, running his finger across the many keys as he seemed to think. “... Do you recognize that tune?”

____

Despite the situation, Kaede can’t help but try and think of the name of the piece. It’s like some sort of instinct that she can’t stop from happening, as if it was integrated into her very soul. It takes her only a few seconds to find out the name of the song. “... C-Clair de lune.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “By Debussy. But I didn’t know that you could…”

____

Her voice trails off, but Izuru seems to understand what she was trying to say, sighing as he stood up, setting the piano onto the couch as he did. “That I could play the piano? Well, Shuichi couldn’t, and it’s not really a talent that I really needed, so it was never a necessary thing to show.”

____

The way he so easily mentions Shuichi throws her off for a second, allowing Izuru to continue speaking. “Also, to answer your questions, I’m not here to kill you. As for Rantaro…” He holds up a small, purple phone, barely visible in the dull lighting. “I set up a distraction for him. Don’t worry, he’ll be back eventually in perfect health.”

____

It takes awhile for Kaede to register what exactly Izuru says, but once she does, she finally takes the chance to look at the phone, narrowing her eyes as she did. It looked somewhat familiar, and she could swear that something like a star sticker decorated the outside of it…

____

The second she saw the sticker was when it clicked, her eyes widening once again as she faced Izuru again. “W-What did you do to Kaito?”

____

This time, Izuru says nothing, simply pocketing the phone, allowing Kaede to come to her own conclusion. Yet the only thing she can think of is the worst case scenario, and the anger from before returns. “H-How… How could you..? He was…” The words feel dry against her throat, the beginnings of hot tears in her eyes as she nearly shook. “He was your friend…”

____

She barely catches Izuru flinching, and she could have sworn she imagined it if Izuru didn’t quickly look away afterward, as if he couldn’t look her in the eye. “... He’s fine. Everyone is fine, it’s only the three of us left, and then it can begin.”

____

”... Th-Three..? But…” She couldn’t imagine what he meant by “everyone”, and her mind can’t properly supply any proper conclusion in its state. “Do you mean Rantaro and I? Who’s this third person? A-And…” She edges a bit backwards towards the door, the tension from before returning as her hand lifted towards the doorknob. “What can begin-?”

____

Before Kaede’s hand even reaches the door, Izuru quickly runs forward, moving so fast that he was almost just a black blur. He uses one scarred hand to grab Kaede’s hand, and she barely notices the new, almost uneven scars on it, her mind too preoccupied as she stared up at Izuru in pure fear.

____

Every sense of reason she had before seemed to crumble in that moment, all she could think was that she was going to die there and then, and that Izuru would be the one to kill her. The thing that nearly broke her was that wherever Shuichi was, he wouldn’t try to forgive himself, even if she wouldn’t blame him for it.

____

Yet it’s then that she looks into the other’s eyes and finally notices how different they were before. They are still that bright red, but any hostility and stoicness from before is gone, replaced by a softness that was better associated with the ultimate detective. Actually, now that she looked closer, she noticed that Izuru looked more like his former self, any resemblance of his current self gone for just a moment as he looked down at Kaede. “... K-Kaede, please… I-I… I’m going to fix this, I swear...”

____

For once, for both the ultimate detective and the man in front of her, his voice sounds defeated. Whatever Izuru was planning was a last ditch effort for the man, that much was obvious, and it involved fixing whatever “this” was.

____

”Trust me, after this, you won’t see me again, I swear…”

____

Once again, his voice is soft, and she finds herself lost in the other’s soft red eyes, almost to the point that she didn’t even notice the other man withdrawing something from his pocket.

____

No, she instead moves her hand so that it’s over the one on her other wrist, narrowing her eyes toward Izuru as she spoke. “... Are you saying that… That Shuichi will come back?”

____

Izuru nods his head without second thought and, for once since Kaede had met the man, a hint of a smile appears on his face. It’s a delicate thing, even for the ultimate detective. If there was one thing in common between Izuru and Shuichi, it was their smiles that seemed so easy to scare away. “Yes, I’ll… Try my best to-”

____

He doesn’t get the chance to finish as Kaede wraps her arms around the other man in a tight hug, burying her face into the other’s chest, clutching the back of his suit jacket tight as she nearly cried into the other’s chest, ignoring the dull pain in her cheek as it dug into the pins on his suit. Finally, after three months of trying to solve this problem, she finally had some sort of solution to it, and she was willing to do anything to help.

____

She wants to say so much, but all she can settle on for now is a weak “thank you” that she mumbles into his chest.

____

He says something in response, and she at first doesn’t hear it, having to get out of the hug and look up to better hear what the now slightly frowning man was saying, readjusting the hat on her head as she did. “W-What..?”

____

”A-Ah, well, what I wanted to say was…” He holds up something from his hand, a slender object that barely fits in his hand. “... I’m sorry, Kaede.”

____

Her eyes widen as she stares at the object, opening her mouth to ask Izuru what he’s doing, the last thing she sees is Izuru’s regretful expression before a bright flash blinds her.

____

The bright flash lasts for awhile, and when it’s finally over, Kaede Akamatsu is stuck in a locker, and the one besides her opens, revealing a boy wearing a cap that was much like her old one.

____

###### 

____

Rantaro nearly sprints up the stairs to his apartment as he thinks over the texts he had gotten from Kaede’s phone, as well as the image of the empty apartment room he had ran into. If the text was right, then Izuru was back, and he was going to continue what he had started with that man that was found dead in the apartment just a few buildings down.

____

It’s the thought of finding his friends dead that makes him run faster, ignoring the burning sensation in his throat and lungs as he moved, nearly slamming his apartment’s door open as he ran inside.

____

Yet he freezes up once he finally sees what’s in front of him.

____

Kaede is laying down on the couch, a blanket over her body, while a familiar man in a sharp black suit sat down on the couch besides the one Kaede was on, staring right at Rantaro. Rantaro only takes one step back before realizing he probably won’t be able to get away, gulping down the rising bile in his throat as he forces himself to remain still and calm, despite his rapid breathing. Panicking in this situation won’t help at all. “... I-Izuru, right?”

____

The man simply nods, prompting Rantaro to continue, who nervously fidgets with his hands as he tried to think of the right question. “... W-What did you do to Kaede..?”

____

At first, Izuru says nothing, staring down at Kaede as something flashes through his red eyes. Was it regret? Rantaro isn’t sure, for as quickly as it appears, it vanishes, replaced by an emptiness as he turns to Rantaro once again. “... I just used a blackout light on her. It’s harmless, but I’m not going to use it on you.”

____

”... Why not?”

____

Izuru actually gives what Rantaro believes to be a laugh at that question, although there is still no smile on his face. “Simple. I need your help in case the plan goes wrong.”

____

He picks up something on the table in front of the couch, a tablet of sorts, before tossing it to Rantaro, not yet giving the other man the chance to question Izuru. “Whatever you record on that will be passed onto the you in the program. I’d be careful what you’d say though, lest you put a target on your back.”

____

Rantaro catches the tablet easily, but everything else the other says nearly goes over his head, holding up one hand as he shook his head. “Wait, wait, wait. Timeout man.” He then places his hands to his hips, ignoring the tablet digging into his side just a bit, a frown on his face as he narrowed his eyes at Izuru just a bit. “What the hell are you talking about? What plan? A-And...” He points accusingly at Izuru. “Why are you making me part of it? Can’t you do something in this “program” you have in this plan?”

____

Before Rantaro had even finished his final question, Izuru was already shaking his head. “... No, I can not. At least not as who I am now.”

____

At first, Rantaro doesn’t seem to quite register was exactly Izuru was saying, staring at the other man in confusion that quickly turned into disbelief, his eyes widening as his mouth opening just a bit. “... Y-You mean that… Sh-Shuichi will..?”

____

”Yes, but I don’t plan to only get him back, but everyone else. But it comes with some risks, of course. Risks that can be prevented if you help. I’ll tell you everything, and while I can’t guarantee you’ll remember it all in the program, I’ll make sure you can still help me.” He slowly raises his hand, holding it out towards the other as he continued speaking. “Do we have a deal?”

____

Rantaro stares down at the hand in the darkness, pondering if what the other man was saying was actually the truth. After all, what if he was trying to harm not only him, but also Kaede and every one of his old friends for their past lives?

____

Quickly, he shakes his head just a bit at that. No, this was Shuichi he was talking about. Of course, he was nearly someone else entirely, but deep down, there had to be some leftover piece of his old friend left. That, and if he wanted them all dead, he would have already killed Kaede by now.

____

The brief flash of regret he saw in Izuru’s eyes appears in his mind once again, something that Izuru wouldn’t act out if he actually wanted to kill them all.

____

It is this that makes Rantaro say nothing as he steps forward, giving him his answer by grabbing Izuru’s hand with his own and shaking it.

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for the support and comments so far! theyre like. 99% of the reason Im so excited to re-edit this fic and try to bring out the best content. Once again, I hope you all enjoyed the new update! Feedback is welcomed and appreciated, and I hope you all have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys I think this is actually the longest chapter in this fic. nearly 16 pages long and it's 3 am and I kind of want to re-edit it again but nah, god damn. but then again, we're finally getting to the Best Part. so yeah I'll just stop talking and get along to the fic
> 
> disclaimer: i own nothing

The sound of explosions and metal clashing against metal rings in his ears as he tries to make his way to the garden, as per the wishes on the final message Kokichi had left behind. The sound is nearly deafening, even considering the far distance he is from the fighting, almost to the point it’s giving him a headache. And yet, even if the robots are far from where he is now, he still finds himself sprinting towards the garden, paper clenched tightly in his hand.

He silently thanks Kaito for the small amount of training they did during the killing game, as without it, he was sure that he would be having a bit more trouble without it. Yet his thoughts are cut off as he trips on something in the grass, a small surprised yell leaving his mouth before its cut off as he faceplants into the ground.

He mumbles a curse under his breath as he slowly pushes himself to his knees, ignoring the sharp pain in his foot, all too quickly realizing that a bruise was already going to form on his face because of this. As he turns to glare down at the object he tripped on however, any animosity he would have towards the object faded away.

_This world is mine. Kokichi Ouma_

He stares down at the stone for a few seconds, any pain that he felt before now a dull throbbing as he ran his fingers across the carved words. He had only heard about this stone before from either Gonta or Tsumugi, but this was the first time he’s actually seen it.

It’s strange though, something about the carving rings wrong to him. Like the words on the stone had been altered, and not just by Kokichi.

At the thought of Kokichi came with the startling realization that he was wasting time, sitting in the grass looking at stones. As he gets up to move though, he stops as a somewhat familiar feeling wracks his brain.

The world flashes, with everything turning black and white. Yet unlike the first time, this one is much more painful, as if whatever memory it was bringing forth was being scraped out of his mind without much care. He doesn’t feel or notice himself falling to the ground on his knees, gripping his head with his hands, nails digging just a bit into skin.

The pain doesn’t last long though, as it is soon replaced by the memory it was supposed to give.

###### 

The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is nothing, as if he was set down into a black hole. A small, crowded black hole at that, evident by how he could barely stand in the small space.

Unlike a normal person though, he doesn’t panic. Instead, he frowns just a bit, narrowing his eyes at the space in front of him as thoughts raced through his head. The last thing he could remember is telling Keebo that he wished him luck, as well as thanking the robot for helping him, before he put the helmet on his head. According to the his calculations, he shouldn’t even be here, thinking about what went wrong.

He’s so deep into his own thoughts that he doesn’t hear the space behind him rattle, or the sound of someone mumbling in pain.

He does notice when someone opens the black hole at his side, the light blinding him for a moment, making him unable to catch his balance fast enough so that he simply falls to the floor with a dull thunk.

”O-Oh god! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?!”

He doesn’t say anything as he gets to his feet, dusting himself off, only to stop once he noticed that half of his vision was blocked off, as well as the small weight on his head.

He blinks in surprise for a moment before reaching up, picking the object off his head to examine it, only to drop it in shock, his mouth slightly agape as he watched the object fall to the floor.

”... Hey, uh…”

Once again, he doesn’t take notice of the other person in the room, although this time, it was out of shock rather than simply ignoring them. Looking over the room to find some reflective surface before settling with the window to the side of the room, nearly sprinting over to it, before stopping once he saw his reflection.

His hair is much shorter, now down to his chin, and there are no scars that line any visible part of his skin. Not only that, but his eyes are now a bright, warm amber instead of that awful, maddening red.

”... It did work-”

”Hey!”

He gives a small yell as something is thrown at him, holding up his hands in defense as he tries his best to shrink away from his attacker. All too quickly though, he stops once he sees who exactly his attacker was, as well as what they threw at him.

The first thing he notices is the musical note hair clips she wears, the dull flash they give off in the low light almost mesmerizing. Yet the somewhat upset look on the other’s face is enough to drag him out of the spell the music note pins put him under. “Geez, what’s your problem? It’s rude to ignore someone like that, you know?”

He blinks in surprise at the others words. She spoke to him as if this was the first time they had met, which should be according to plan, but then again, he was here now when he shouldn’t be. Something was certainly wrong, of course, but he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly with what little info he had.

For now, he decides to go along with the plan he intended, bending down to pick up the object she threw, his old counterpart’s hat, placing it onto his head as he spoke. “Sorry… I was just panicking, that’s all…”

It’s almost embarrassingly easy to pretend to be his old self after having read the personality profile on him, but that is outweighed by the pure guilt he feels as he looks at the formerly clueless, now sheepish young woman in front of him. “There’s no need to be sorry, I think I should be the one apologizing… It is kind of my fault that you fell out of a locker like that…”

He looks over towards the lockers at the corner of the room, both of them open, revealing that there was nothing else inside them, well, at least that was visible. He walks towards the lockers without much thought, examining them to see if there was any clue that wasn’t as obvious. “I see…”

The few seconds of silence that ensues is almost awkward, with him now examining the lockers as she stands off to the side, occasionally looking at him before looking down at her shuffling feet.

”... Uhm…” He looks behind him at the sound of the other’s voice, barely able to see the other under the bill of his hat, much to his dismay. “... I don’t think I’ve introduced myself, but I’m Kaede, Kaede Akamatsu.”

He wants with all his heart to say that he knows, to tell her the truth of where she was or what was going on. To make her part of his plan somehow, like he did with Rantaro and Keebo, and have her help her former classmates out. She would have wanted that, he was sure of it.

Yet he doesn’t, because he knows the dangers of involving her in his plan. That, and she probably wouldn’t even believe him now.

It’s that thought that causes a sharp feeling in his chest, like an arrow was shot through his heart, making him forgo examining the locker in favor of facing Kaede.

He smiles for the first time in what feels like forever, the feeling on his face familiar and yet painful at the same time, holding out his hand towards the other as he did. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kaede. My name is Shuichi Saihara.”

###### 

When the memory is over, Shuichi finds himself staring down at the ground below, his hands at his sides as he tries his best to rationalize the memory.

He had recognized the room in his memory, of course. It was the room he had first woken up in when the killing game first started, as well as where he first met Kaede.

Yet he couldn’t recall ever having a conversation like that with the pianist, nor ever having such thoughts. The version of himself in that memory almost seemed like a madman, looking around empty lockers for clues or being surprised by his own reflection.

Yet the pain the version of himself felt was very real to him, lingering in his chest even now. He can’t help but clutch the front of his shirt as he forces himself to his feet, jogging in the direction of the garden as he puts the memory he had gained off to the side so he could ask Maki, Himiko, Tsumugi, or Keebo about it later.

He does forget to ask them about the memory, and he soon forgets about the message, although he would be reminded about it soon.

###### 

_”...”_

_”I get that this is probably really confusing, seeing… yourself like this. Guess I should start from the beginning.”_

_”First things first, I… am you. No tricks, no actors. It’s you. The reason you don’t remember recording this is because that memory was erased.”_

_”As for why, I can’t say… Just think of this video as a message from the Rantaro before you lost your memory… to the Rantaro after you lost your memory.”_

_”So, let’s get to it, then. The reason I recorded this footage.”_

_”I was… chosen to help. Although as to why I was chosen out of everyone else is still a mystery to me, I do understand what I’m supposed to be doing though, and part of what I’m supposed to do involves this video message.”_

_”They did say that it was possible for you not to get this video in the first place, but the fact that you’re watching it now means that they succeeded in getting it to you. In that case, the plan is probably still salvageable. But this also means that you can’t show this video to anyone else. Well, anyone besides-”_

_”... Ah, I guess they don’t want me to say that. Figures…”_

_”Still, even without their help, I know you’re smart enough to stop what the mastermind of this mess planning. After all, you even have the so called “Ultimate Hope” helping you out.”_

_”Now, there’s some parts to this plan. It’s something that you, hopefully, got at the start of the game. I bet you know what I’m talking about.”_

_”If you’re watching this video though, I’m guessing that you haven’t exactly figured out what to do with it yet, or that you just didn’t get it. I guess my partner in crime just can’t make it that easy, can they?”_

_”Other than that, you’re just like the others. You’re in, memories wiped, and the person trying to mess with everything expects you to start killing. There’s not really anything left to explain…”_

_”... Oh. There is one more thing…”_

_”The truth is, you’re the Ultimate Survivor, and you’ve survived tons of messes worse than this before. And that this killing wasn’t supposed to happen, it was supposed to be a-”_

_”... Ah, guess I can’t say that either. I, hopefully, can say that what I, or rather, you have been given does paint a huge target on your back. So be careful, and watch yourself, or else you will be the first to go down, and you won’t be able to stop what’s next.”_

__

_”... Ha, I guess I can say that. Well, good luck out there, and don’t get yourself killed.”_

__

###### 

__

She didn’t kill him.

__

Kaede Akamatsu did not kill Rantaro Amami.

__

That is a fact, something that is backed up by proof that Shuichi had collected over the course of the past hours with his friends.

__

Fact number two, even if Kaede was falsely voted guilty during the first trial, everyone else was not executed, despite Monokuma’s rule.

__

Fact number three, the person who had not only killed Rantaro and technically Kaede, but was also responsible for the entire killing game, was standing right in front of him, laughing their head off as they throw their head back, the pink hair on their head a tangled mess.

__

Needless to say, it took all of his willpower not to get up from where he was and strangle the person who was once Tsumugi Shirogane.

__

Or, as she put it, a “perfect replica” of Junko Enoshima.

__

”So… You’re just some freak pretending to be Junko Enoshima?”

__

Somehow, Maki’s cold voice somehow cuts through the rage burning in Shuichi’s mind, yet he’s barely able to hear Junko’s reply. “Nope! As I said before, I’m a perfect reproduction of Junko Enoshima!” Her outfit quickly changes back to the timid cosplayer from before. “And a perfect reproduction is just the same as the original…”

__

”Her logic is… Quite impossible to follow, much like the real Junko Enoshima’s…”

__

Maki pays no heed to Keebo’s words, only continuing to glare at the madwoman in front of her coldly. “Whatever it is, you’re the actual mastermind of this killing game, right?”

__

Her eyes are then filled with a malice that Shuichi has seen only a few times before, although never aimed at him, thankfully. Right now, he feels like any overwhelming emotion would cause him to yell at the injustice of it all, and that the scream would never end. “So if we kill you, that’ll be the end, correct?”

__

”Weeeelll…” Tsumugi glances off to the side for a moment, tapping a now manicured nail to her chin as she thinks. Unlike before though, it only takes her a few seconds to think of the correct answer. “... I’m not really the mastermind.”

__

”... What?”

__

Shuichi doesn’t realize that it was him that spoke until nearly everyone in the room besides Tsumugi and Maki turn to him. For a second, he almost shrinks away from the stares, as he used to, before forcing himself to stand up straight and ignore them, glaring at Shirogane as he did. “What are you talking about? There’s no way you’re not the mastermind behind this killing game!”

__

In a flash of clothes, Junko’s back, a scowl on her face as she glared at Shuichi. “Well, of course I’m the mastermind behind the killing game, dipshit!” More clothes, and Tsumugi is back. “It’s just that… It’s not all entirely me. I mean, I didn’t really put you here, so to speak.” She then smiles, and it’s something that sends shivers down Shuichi’s spine. This is not a smile from the Ultimate Cosplayer, Tsumugi Shirogane, who survived alongside him. This was a smile from the deranged Mastermind, Tsumugi Shirogane, who orchestrated the entire game. “Right, Shuichi?”

__

”... What?”

__

This time, it’s not Shuichi that speaks, but Himiko, who leans forward just a bit on her podium, as if she was trying to hear Tsumugi better. “W-What are you talking about..? Shuichi gave us all the evidence, right? So there’s no way he knows about a second mastermind…”

__

”Why the hell are we even listening to her?” Maki scoffs, her hateful gaze never leaving Tsumugi. “She’s obviously just trying to confuse us. Besides, who the hell would ever work with a psychopath like her?”

__

”Awh, Maki, that’s not a nice thing to say… And it’s kind of hypocritical, coming from you.” Tsumugi doesn’t give Maki the chance to reply, a sharp laugh leaving her mouth as she shook her head. “Besides, I never said that this other mastermind worked with me!” Another flash, and Junko’s back. “I just sort of piggybacked onto their plan, which included bringing you all here, and they kind of sort of let it go along..? I mean, they tried to use Rantaro, but I got rid of him reeaallly fast.”

__

”... Wait,” Keebo’s eyes widen at Tsumugi’s words, almost looking horrified. “Do you mean to say that Rantaro knew about this entire predicament, as well as who you were, and just allowed it to happen?”

__

Even if he wasn’t looking at him, Shuichi provided an answer, figuring that it might as well come out of his mouth than the Enoshima imposter. “No, not really… At least, it didn’t seem so in the video Himiko and I found. If anything, it seemed like he was working with someone else to try and stop Shirogane… But… That person who’s working with Rantaro…” He feels himself clenching the podium in front of him, his nails digging into the plastic just a bit after so much earlier wear and tear. “I don’t think I could forgive them either. After all, they brought us here for some reason, and whatever that reason was, it apparently isn’t important enough to try hard enough to stop this killing game… If they did, maybe everyone would be...”

__

Silence falls over the room, with even Monokuma not saying a single thing, and Shuichi finds himself, for the first time since the killing game started, actually thinking about his friend’s deaths.

__

He thinks about how Kaito must have felt, knowing that he won even if he had to die. Or Kokichi as he was being crushed by not only the press, but the world around him.

__

He thinks about Miu, who felt so desperate and paranoid to escape that she couldn’t trust anyone, having to resort to murder, only for it to backfire. Gonta didn’t even remember his murder, yet Shuichi knows that wherever the gentle giant is, he probably remembers his brutal execution.

__

He thinks about the horror Angie must have felt right before she got hit by the wooden board, or Tenko’s as she suffocated on her own blood. And even if Korekiyo was a scum of a human being, no one deserved that kind of demise.

__

He thinks about Kirumi, the prime minister of Japan, who still somewhat valued them, although not over her people, who forces Ryoma to drown in a cement sink before feeding him to piranhas. Shuichi can only be thankful that Ryoma wasn’t alive for the last part.

__

He remembers talking to Kaede in the classroom they used as a lookout long ago, who gently holds his hand as she encourages him to find the truth.

__

He remembers, minutes later, finding Rantaro Amami dead, and Kaede being hung and then crushed hours later.

__

He’s cut out of his thoughts as a sharp, loud laugh echoes across the room, nearly causing him to jump as he looks back up towards Tsumugi, or rather, Enoshima. “O-Oh my god, I just can’t hold it in anymore! I gotta say it now, or else I’m going to explode!”

__

Himiko looks as if she’s on the verge of passing out from the sheer amount of fear she was feeling now, yet she’s still somewhat able to stand as she glares at Junko. “S-Say what?”

__

"Whatever it is, spit it out already so I can finish you off quietly.”

__

Despite Maki’s threats, Junko doesn’t actually seemed threatened, she only smiles wide, like a shark about to eats its prey. “The true mastermind behind this killing game is…” Monokuma pats the chair he’s on like a drumroll as Junko holds a hand into the air, before using it to point at the person right in front of her. “... You!”

__

”... Huh?”

__

”That’s simply impossible…”

__

”... It can’t be…”

__

”... M-Me?”

__

Shuichi’s voice sounds meek for the first time in days, barely able to choke out any words as everyone in the room turns to face him. “I… I-I can’t, I’m not…”

__

”You can, and you are!” Tsumugi’s voice is unrelenting, her wide smile returning as she proudly places her hands to her hips. “The one who brought everyone here in the first place, the one who didn’t do anything to stop this killing game, the one that you simply can not forgive, is you yourself!” She claps her hands together, nearly jumping in her spot as she laughed. “Why don’t we give our wonderful mastermind a round of applause!”

__

Despite his earlier attitude towards the other, Shuichi can’t find it in himself to properly react, unable to hear what anyone else has to say. He only wracks his brain for any evidence to show that he is what Shirogane claims to be. Then again, it could simply be another one of her mind games, and she was doing it to just mess with him…

__

But then he remembers the memory he regained after he tripped on the stone outside, the bruises he got earlier throbbing just a bit at the memory, and he shivers.

__

”Shuichi.”

__

Maki’s cold tone snaps him out of his thoughts, but he is only met by a glare filled with nothing but death in it. “Explain yourself. Now.”

__

Shuichi can’t help but shrink back just a bit at her glare, opening his mouth to speak before shutting it, having no idea what to say. ”Whoa, wait a minute.” He doesn’t need to turn to know that Keebo has spoken. “Are you really going to believe Shirogane over Shuichi? How do you know that this is not simply one of her mind games?!”

__

”Y-Yeah..!” Himiko’s voice holds a lot less conviction than Keebo’s, but it still carries over to the other side of the circle. “Shuichi’s our friend! He would never-”

__

”Shirogane was our friend too, and look what happened. And I want to hear it from Shuichi himself, not anyone else.” Her eyes never leave Shuichi, but the malice they held before lessens, and that’s when Shuichi finally sees just how exhausted she is. Obviously tired by the killings, by the betrayals, just as much as he was. “... Shuichi, I want you to look me in the eyes and answer me. Are you, or are you not, what Tsumugi says you are?”

__

At first, the answer is clear to him. He opens his mouth to say no before the memory he had gotten before stops him. He remembers what exactly that version of him thought, and how he acted and how he carried himself.

__

He thought as if he knew everything that was happening, as if he himself set up the entire thing, and something about it stops Shuichi from speaking.

__

”... I… I don’t…”

__

”Hey kiddo, what’s the matter?”

__

Everyone besides Tsumugi looks up towards the bear on his throne, who brandishes another flashback light in his hand, as if it was some sort of torch. “Need a little pick me up? Well, here ya go, I’ll help you out!”

__

Shuichi barely catches out of the corner of his eye the horrified look on Maki’s face, who turns to him just as Monokuma faces the flashlight towards him. “Shuichi, don’t-!”

__

Too late. Monokuma turns on the flashlight, and once again, Shuichi’s world is thrown into a world of bright lights and blinding colors.

__

###### 

__

For the first few seconds, images flash through his mind. Images full of blood and corpses, all of them piled high by a man with long hair and sharp red eyes. A man that calls himself Izuru Kamukura.

__

When that’s over, he’s running down a hallway, gripping tightly to Kaede’s hand as he sprints through the building and away from the giant robot, having only a vague idea of where he was going.

__

It takes awhile, but he finally finds the door he was looking for, ignoring Kaede’s questions as to where they’re going, instead bee-lining straight for the set of double doors down the hall. 

__

The first thing he sees when he bursts open the doors are people, all of them grouped into one area, all of them now staring at both him and Kaede as they both enter the gym in a rush.

__

For the first time, he feels like he’s completely out of breath, cursing himself for not keeping at least a few surgeries for when he’s in the program. But then again, he didn’t think he’d be having to run away from giant robots that wanted to kill him.

__

As he’s trying to catch his breath, he hears Kaede trying to talk to the other people in the room, and while he would like to talk to a few, he forces himself to distance from them. After all, even if Kaede didn’t know who he was or how she got into the program, didn’t mean that she wasn’t the only one that was still affected by the blackout light.

__

Once he’s caught his breath, and he’s finally able to stand up straight, he nearly jumps at the sudden appearance of a boy that stands right in front of him, wearing a cap much like his own. Quickly though, he collects himself, forcing himself to go back into his original role as he placed a shy smile onto his face. “A-Ah, sorry, did you say something? I wasn’t paying attention-”

__

”Izuru.”

__

He stops at the familiar voice, and he finds himself pausing for a few seconds, drudging through memories that suddenly seemed so far away so he could place a name to the person in front of him before it finally seems to click. “... Keebo?” At the robot’s nod, Izuru finds himself giving a small laugh, finally dropping the fake smile he had before. “So you really made it into the program?”

__

The robot nods as he looks around in something akin to wonder. “Yes, and it’s amazing, truly. Although…” The childlike wonder from before vanishes as he turns back to Izuru. “There are some issues, I’m afraid, and I don’t really understand why…”

__

So Keebo didn’t know what was going on either? Izuru placed a hand over his chin as he looked across the group of people in front of him, trying to see if anyone else could offer some hint as to what was going on.

__

Just as his eyes cross over a familiar mess of blue hair though, a mechanical voice echoes across the gym.

__

”Okayyyyy, quiet everyone! Shimmy down, shimmy down!”

__

”No, no, no. It’s “simmer down”.”

__

Before he gets the chance to even look around, the five robots from before suddenly drop into the gym out of nowhere, making the group of teens crowd closer together to before, with Keebo and Izuru on the outside of the group.

__

Without much thought, Izuru finds himself running towards the robots, ignoring Keebo’s cries to stop. The only thing he could hear was his own pounding heartbeat, beating along to the rhythmic thought of “my fault” as the sound of his former self’s classmates screaming in fear.

__

He finds himself sliding on his knees under the green one before he stands up, the remnant memory of the Ultimate Assassin now dull, but still there, reminding him of what he was capable of as he glares up at the giant green robot in front of him, holding up one arm in some sort of self illusion that he could protect the people behind him.

__

”Oh, lookie here! We got a modern day James Bond over here!” The blue one to his right takes a step towards him, and the person behind Shuichi screams, causing his heart to sink as he realizes that it’s Kaede that was behind him.

__

The robot only stops as the pink one to his left gasps. “James Bond you say? Can I get an autograph?”

__

”Uuuuhh… I don’t think we can really do one in these things. Besides, if he was here, we should at least charge people for autographs!”

__

”Gasp! You would even charge your own sister! B-But…”

__

He tunes out the ramblings of the robots in front of him in favor of turning his head a bit to face Kaede, forcing himself to sound concerned for her sake, feeling his emotions inch away slowly as his memories leave along with them. “You okay..?”

__

It takes awhile, but Kaede eventually nods her head, obviously forcing herself to look determined and unafraid, clenching her hands into fists as she forced a smile onto her face. “Y-Yeah, I’ll be fine…”

__

Anything else the two wanted to say is interrupted by the sound of air hissing filling the room, followed by five robotic bears jumping out of the giant robots before falling to the ground.

__

”S-See? We’re outta the exisals! Now we’re not scary anymore, right? Right? Right?”

__

The pink bear almost seems to sweat at the red one’s words. “His desperation is kind of terrifying...”

__The blue one cuts through the conversation with a loud strum of its guitar, cackling madly all the while. “You punkasses better brace yourselves!”

__

”A-And he’s just outright terrifying!”

__

Nearly everyone else in the room stares down at the bears in shock, with some even trying to rationalize it. Yet three other people in the room react differently.

__

Rantaro looks down at the bears with something like cold judgement, a dark look taking over his face as he did, only now realizing the gravity of the task he had been assigned.

__

Keebo can only look on in horror, knowing what this means for not only himself, but also everyone else in the room.

__

Izuru is the only one with pure, unbridled rage in his eyes as he scans the room for the person he knows is responsible for this. It only takes him a few seconds, but once he does, he yells out to her, his voice silencing everyone else's. “Shirogane!”

__

Before now, Izuru never understood how someone could hate someone else so much to the point that they would want to kill them. Now though, as he walks towards Tsumugi, who turns and looks at him in fear, he finally understood.

__

”U-Uh oh… I-I think we need to fix this, fast.”

__

”Shirogane, what have you done?!”

__

Someone tries to grab his hand, but he merely shoves it off, walking to Tsumugi, who was frozen in fear, before stopping only inches before her. “Answer me, Shirogane!”

__

For a moment, the shock on Tsumugi’s face fades away, turning into cruel understanding for a moment before it turns back to shock, making herself look horrified. “I-I don’t know…”

__

”... Ya know what, I agree, let’s do this before pops, ya know, fucking kills us.”

__

”Bullshit, Shirogane!” He reaches forward to grab Tsumugi, but is stopped as two people grab his arms. He doesn’t need to look up to know it’s both Kaito and Gonta, instead continuing to yell at the woman in front of him. “You may change the program, Shirogane, but you won’t win, you know why?”

__

”Alright everyone, it’s time for your Ultimate Makeover! Get ready!”

__

”Because, Shirogane, this world…” He then smiles, and for once, it’s a cruel thing, something that doesn’t quite fit on the young man’s face. “... Is mine.”

__

###### 

__

When Shuichi comes back to reality, he screams.

__

To everyone else in the room, it doesn’t sound quite human. It is the scream of a broken man. One who has just gotten his world shattered into billions of pieces and only partially put together.

__

Yet in response, Tsumugi laughs madly. “You see now, don’t you? Huh? Huh?” Junko returns in a flash of clothing. “You’re not Shuichi Saihara anymore, the pathetic, weak Ultimate Detective! You’re Izuru Kamukura, the Ultimate Hope that became who he was to save his stupid friends, only to fail in the end!”

__

”N-No!” Shuichi finds the words leaving his mouth with little to no thought, once again gripping the podium in front of him to the point that it almost hurt. “Th-That’s not me!”

__

”It’s not?” Tsumugi looks around the room before her eyes settle on the Ultimate Robot, who seems deep in thought. “Hey, Keebo, do you think that’s true?”

__

The robot jolts hearing his name, panic taking over his face as he registers Tsumugi’s question before he turns to Shuichi, who desperately looks at the robot, silently begging for him to say no. For him to say that whatever he saw was not true, that he wasn’t the real mastermind.

__

Unlike Kokichi, Keebo is an awful liar, and he only looks away in guilt, apparently seeing something like what Shuichi saw only seconds ago. “... I-It’s true.” He then speaks up, addressing both Maki and Himiko now when he speaks. “Sh-Shuichi is the mastermind, Izuru Kamukura, who created the program we’re in.”

__

”Nyeh? What did you say?”

__

”Program..? What the hell are you talking about?”

__

Shuichi doesn’t hear anything else, all he does is look around him at the many portraits with red X’s on them, all of them surrounding him, mocking him.

__

He falls to his knees as he looks at Kaede’s portrait, which smiles warmly at him despite what he’s done as Izuru, the memories he had as his long haired counterpart overwhelming him.

__

For once since the killing game started, Shuichi feels numb as he lays his head against the wooden bars of his podium, slowly shutting his eyes.

__

With Izuru’s memories came the knowledge of the Neo World Program, and everything with it.

__

There was no way Shuichi, nor any of the people around him, would get out of there happy. They either live a lie and have their dead classmates back as Junko-fied people, or they live the truth where Izuru kills everyone all under Hopes Peak Academy’s name.

__

Either way was pointless, there was no reason for him to get up, for him to speak or do anything.

__

It was all completely pointless.

__

###### 

__

”... Huh, it’s been awhile since I’ve last seen someone here.”

__

Shuichi’s eyes snap open at the voice, only to panic once he saw that he was floating in some sort of empty space. Unlike the locker in his memory though, it is not cramped, and there is one other person with him.

__

The person in front of him, a young girl, holds a light smile on her lips, her pink hair swaying gently against the non-existent breeze. “Let me guess, Hopes Peak, or Junko?”

__

For a second, Shuichi doesn’t know what to say, only able to stare up at the person in front of him, before he mumbles out his reply. “... B-Both? But how did..?”

__

The pink haired young woman waves him off, a light chuckle leaving her mouth as she shakes her head. “I'm not psychic or anything. I'm just basing it off some past experiences, that’s all.”

__

Despite the other’s warm tone, it doesn’t bring Shuichi’s mood up, who only slowly goes back into that uncaring mood he held before. “Th-That… That’s alright, I guess-”

__

He’s suddenly caught off as something hits his arm, once again jumping just a bit, rubbing his arm as he glared at the woman in front of him. “H-Hey!”

__

The other simply pouts, her hands at her hips as she scolded him. “How long are you going to stay like this?”

__

”... Huh?”

__

”Isn’t the reason that you became Izuru was to help protect your friends?”

__

Shuichi blinks in surprise at the other words, scouring his memories for a moment before finding his answer. “... I-I mean, yeah, but Hope’s Peak lied to me about that and just… Made me into some sort of monster…”

__

”Well…” The other then smiles softly, tilting her head to the side just a bit as she did. “Isn’t it up to you whether or not to make something a truth or a lie? I mean… In the end, Izuru did try to help everyone, didn’t he..?”

__

At this, Shuichi says nothing, biting his lip as he stares down at the ground in thought. While it was true that Izuru had, in the end, tried to help his friends, it didn’t excuse the murder he had done before, nor did it excuse what he had done to accomplish his goal.

__

Yet, in the end, what Hopes Peak had done was true, they had made someone that, in the end, cared about his former friends.

__

”... I… I guess he did.”

__

”... Then it’s settled.”

__

Before Shuichi can say anything, the other gently grabs his hand, tugging on them slightly. “Come on, I’ll help you get out of here so you can go help your friends create their own truths.”

__

At first, Shuichi tries to complain, but he quickly shuts his mouth, forcing himself to keep up with the woman besides him, feeling that if he let go of her hand now, he would fall into the inky darkness below.

__

Eventually though, he realizes something, and he turns to the woman besides him just a bit. “... Hey, I never got your name-”

__

He’s cut off as something grabs his arm, tugging him into the darkness behind him. He screams, struggling to get it to let go, turning to see what exactly had grabbed him before freezing up.

__

It’s him, or rather, someone that looks exactly like him, with long hair and glowing red eyes. “I’m useless, and I can’t do anything to help my friends…”

__

He shivers at the familiar, yet also terrifying, voice his double had, turning to face the young woman that was holding his hand before, only to stop once he noticed that he was in the all too familiar class trial setting, the pink haired woman standing across from him while copies of Izuru stood in the podiums around him.

__

Instantly, the doubles barrage him, their voices like vipers dripping in poison. Yet in the center of it all stands that pink haired girl, who smiles in an all too familiar manner. “Don’t worry, remember what I said? It’s up to you to decide what exactly are the truths and what are the lies.”

__

The truth and the lies...

__

_”My talent is useless unless my friends are dead…”_

__

_”I can’t help anyone with my talent…”_

__

”... That’s not…”

__

_”I’m so useless, I can’t even protect my friends from myself.”_

__

_”I don’t want to disappear…”_

__

”... That’s...”

__

_”They all died because of me…”_

__

_”They won’t want to stay friends with me because of what I’ve done.”_

__

”N-No…” Shuichi slams the podium with both of his fists, glaring at the double right across from him, not at all noticing the proud look on the pink haired girl’s face as he shouted. “No, that’s wrong!”

__

###### 

__

When he opens his eyes again, he’s staring at the wooden poles of the podium, the voices of his fellow classmates echoing in his ears duly.

__

He hears Maki yell at Tsumugi about how it’s impossible they’re inside a program, and he can barely hear Himiko mumbling something under her breath sadly, with Keebo trying to comfort her.

__

The memory of what he had experienced only moments before is still fresh in his mind, and that’s when he makes the startling realization that he didn’t figure out what the girl’s name was.

__

No, he couldn’t think about that now. As long as he remembered what she did for him, then he could always just find out more about her after he escaped from this hellhole.

__

With that in mind, he gets back to his feet with the help of the podium, not yet noticing the white streaks in his hair, nor the sudden fire in his eyes.

__

No, he sees the faces behind the red X’s that no longer suffocate him, but cheer him on, telling him to keep going and defeat the mastermind.

__

”You guys really think that you’ll get out of here unscathed?!” Junko cackles, before Tsumugi appears in her place. “Now, that’s just plainly unrealistic.”

__

With that, he takes one final deep breath, shutting his eyes for a moment, collecting his thoughts together before he finally, as loud as he can, yells out to Tsumugi, his eyes snapping open to meet hers. “No, that’s wrong!”

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhh sorry if it felt somewhat rushed in some parts. It was just hard to piece this all together in someway, and I felt like this was as far as my writing ability goes. All that's left is the epilogue though, which actually has the bulk of the saimatsu so mmmmmm look forward to that.
> 
> Anyway, feedback is welcomed and appreciated! And I hope yall have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update everyone. The original layout for this chapter didn't really sit well with me in the end, so I ended up rewriting the entire chapter. also, I edited parts of the last chapter, not so much, but just fixing a few sentences and such. It doesn't add much to the story, I just think it's Neat 
> 
> i dont think you want to hear excuses though, so I'll just head onto the fic
> 
> disclaimer: i own Nothing

She doesn’t know how long she’s been here, restricted to just a single room. The only noise being the small beeps from the heart monitor and various other hospital equipment in the room. It’s almost suffocating to the point that if she could, she would jump out of the bed and run outside of the room like a madman.

But then again, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not she wanted to, but whether or not she could.

Rantaro had been the first one she saw when she had woken up, and if he wasn’t, she’d probably be a panicking mess. After all, waking up in a room you didn’t recognize and having no memory as to why you were there would probably drive everyone mad.

Then again, he didn’t explain much. All he said was that she had been in a life threatening situation, and that she had been asleep for nearly five months. He had never explained what happened, or why her throat hurt like hell or why she could barely move, all he said was that she would remember in due time. At least, that was what he had been told.

Ever since that first day, Rantaro occasionally visited, but outside of that, no one else usually visited, besides who she assumed was a doctor of sorts.

Well, he didn’t dress like one, he looked more like someone that was also a student at the college she attended. A white t-shirt covered by a black jacket, along with a pair of plain jeans and tennis shoes. His black hair reached his chin, yet seemed hastily cut to that length, as if it was a patchwork job. Still, he seemed to know what he was doing, and even if he never looked at or talked to Kaede whenever he was in her room, she felt some sort of connection to the man, as if he was a long lost friend.

It was probably that feeling, as well as her own friendly nature, that actually sparked her into talking with the man one day.

The day started out normal, with Rantaro checking in on her for awhile before leaving for breakfast, saying that he would grab some for her, followed soon by the raven haired man.

He began his usual inspection of the devices next to her bed, still not facing her at all as he did, his hair hiding his face from sight. Yet she didn’t allow that to deter her, taking a deep breath, forcing the friendliest smile she could muster on her face, before she finally spoke. “How are you?”

The man nearly jumped at her words, obviously used to his silent routine, before he forces himself to calm down, resuming his inspection of the machines silently.

Kaede looked at the man expectantly for a few moments longer, her smile slowly falling away until it turns into a slightly annoyed frown. “... Hey.” She leans forward, ignoring the sharp pain in her arms as she moved, before gently poking his arm. “It’s rude to ignore someone like that, y’know?”

The man flinches, freezing for a moment before sighing, a light chuckle following afterwards, although it sounded forced. “I… I guess you’re right. But isn’t it rude to poke people?”

Now there was a flat out pout on her face, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at the other. Yet there was no animosity in her expression. She was thankful to finally talk to someone besides Rantaro, even if she did find the other man to be one of her best friends. “You were rude to me first, so we’re even.”

This time, the laugh that leaves the other’s mouth sounds less forced, but he still doesn’t turn to her just yet. “Yeah, I guess you’re right about that too…”

Instead of adding onto that, Kaede simply stares at the man, arms still crossed. To her, the man’s voice sounded somewhat familiar, but as to where she heard it, she couldn’t really recall where exactly. Rather than think about it for long though, she couldn’t help but just flat out ask him. “... Hey, this may seem weird, but…”

Once again, the man freezes up, but she doesn’t notice it this time, looking off to the side just a bit in thought. “... Have we… Met before..?”

It was then that she felt a sudden wave of deja vu, but for now, she simply ignores it in favor of trying to get an answer from the man in front of her. Yet with how the man hasn’t said anything since she asked, and was simply staring at the machines in front of him, it seemed like she wouldn’t get her answers today.

Eventually though, much to Kaede’s surprise, the man finally turns to face Kaede, and she sees his face for the first time.

The first thing she sees when he faces her are his eyes, two bright red pools that captured anyone that looked into them, but also seemed to mix with a dull amber that radiated a kindness she couldn’t understand, making the two colors clash. His raven hair framed a sharp, yet also fragile looking face that carried a hint of a shy smile with it. “Technically, I don’t think so…”

Well, that didn’t help. Kaede could already feel the confused look making its way onto her face, causing the man’s shy smile to turn apologetic as he ran a gloved hand through his hair. “S-Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that… I’m…” He stops for a moment, staring down at his other gloved hand before he holds it out to Kaede warily. “... My name is Shuichi.”

”Shuichi…” The name feels familiar, as if she had said it dozens of times before in her life, yet she couldn’t really recall any time she had ever said it. Still, she pushes that feeling off to the side in favor of returning the man’s smile with one of her own, gently grabbing the other’s hand as she did. “It’s nice to meet you, Shuichi. My name is Kaede.”

###### 

From then on, whenever Shuichi came by to check on the machines by her bedside, they had made small talk before he left. Mostly though, it was Kaede talking to Shuichi while he quietly listened. Besides his name, she didn’t know that much about the man, but she still enjoyed the extra company, nonetheless.

About a week or so after Shuichi began to talk to her was when he informed her that she was finally allowed to have more visitors besides Rantaro. At first, she had wondered who it was, but that was quickly answered at the all too familiar loud voice that accompanied the loud sound of her door being slammed open only minutes after Shuichi left the room to grab them. “Akamatsu!”

She had nearly jumped in her bed, dropping the book in her hands onto her lap, the beeping of the heart monitor rising for a moment before slowing back down once she recognized the voice. “... K-Kaito? You’re here too?”

Kaito smiles wide as he takes a step into the room, the purple jacket he wore gently brushing against the door before he shuts it behind him. “Yep! Kaito Momota, luminary of the stars, is here to help his sidekick feel better!”

”... Sidekick?” She could recall him calling her his sidekick a few times before when he had to help her study for a few tests, but outside of that, she was the one usually helping him out.

Still, Kaito takes her confusion in stride, waving her off as he took a seat in the chair Rantaro usually sat in. “Don’t think about it too much. I’m just here to help.” He then looks down at the book that Kaede had, tilting his head a bit to scan the title of the book. “... “The History of Classical Music”? How did you get a book like that?”

”Hm? Oh…” A light chuckle leaves her mouth as she picked the book back up, shutting it before setting it onto the table besides her bed, careful not to hit anything off it while doing so. “Shuichi got it for me. Apparently, there’s a library around here that has all kinds of books.” Once she had successfully set the book onto the table, she faced Kaito again, a questioning look now on her face. “Actually, I’m kind of surprised you don’t know about it, since it seems that you can walk around and all…”

Kaito scoffed as he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed as he glared at the wall. “How the hell was I supposed to know if Shuichi wouldn’t even let me go on certain floors?!”

Shuichi actually had authority over people? The thought of him actually having a position above a nurse didn’t really connect with her… But then again, she hadn’t seen or heard about any other medical staff since she woke up, so Shuichi was probably some sort of boss by default. But if he was just a doctor, then… ”... Wait, why wouldn’t he let you go to a library?”

”... Well…” Kaito looked down at his jacket sleeve, running it between his fingers for a few moments in thought, before he eventually looks back towards Kaede, his glare now gone, replaced by a melancholy look. “... I don’t really think it has to do with me. I may not know him that much, but whenever I bring it up, he almost looks… Sad…”

At this, Kaede once again feels the now familiar itch in the back of her mind. For a second, she ignores it, as she usually does, forcing herself to think about Kaito’s words.

Why would Shuichi be upset about the library? Did something happen to him once when he was in a library? Did it have something to do with an irrational fear of his? Or maybe-?

_The body lays down in a curved position behind the bookshelf, and the bloodstains from the caved in skull cover most of their face from sight, but she didn’t need to see their face to know who the victim was. She was just thankful that she wouldn’t need to see Rantaro’s empty gaze, absent of the life that was there was only minutes ago._

When Kaede’s world blinks back into focus, she at first doesn’t hear Kaito, although she could see that he was still talking. All she could hear was her own shaky breathing as her thoughts raced.

What the hell was that? It wasn’t a memory, she knew that. Because if it was a memory, then Rantaro would be dead, and that couldn’t be true. She had seen Rantaro, talked to him, and even playfully punched his shoulder at one point in the past week. If he was dead, then she wouldn’t have been able to do any of that.

Still, it didn’t explain why whatever she saw felt so real, and neither did it explain the guilt that burned inside her chest.

Slowly, she forces herself to calm down, shutting her eyes for a moment as she took a few deep breaths, clenching her hands into fists that were so tight that her nails almost punctured them.

She only opens her eyes again when she begins to hear Kaito’s voice, who still seems stuck in his own thoughts, still fiddling with his jacket. It’s only a few breaths after she opens her eyes does she finally hear what exactly Kaito was saying. “... rd, you know? Like he knows everything about us, but we don’t know a damn thing about him.” He then scoffs, shaking his head as he finally lets go of his jacket’s sleeve. “He reminds me of Izuru just a bit, except he isn’t so uptight.”

Whatever Kaede had prepared to say halts at the name Kaito mentioned, pausing for a moment before she speaks. “... Who’s Izuru?”

Now it was Kaito’s turn to look baffled. “Seriously? Izuru? Dude with long black hair? Red eyes? Ring any bells?”

As Kaede shakes her head, Kaito scoffs in disbelief, a shaky smile making its way onto his face. “K-Kaede, seriously, now is not the time to be joking… Come on, you literally took him to some cafe awhile back...”

Kaede gives a somewhat impatient sigh as she shook her head. “Kaito, I’m not joking… I don’t remember anyone like that, or inviting anyone like that anywhere.” Yet on the inside, she was almost panicking, and she couldn’t really understand why. She didn’t know who Izuru was, but the name itself caused conflicting feelings to arise within her. And if she knew him, why did she forget about him in the first place?

That’s when it suddenly hits her that one of the people that visited her had bright red eyes.

Why would he introduce himself as someone else entirely? Was he somewhat responsible for what happened to her? And if he was, was that also the reason why she forgot about him?

”... Kaede?”

She snaps out of her thoughts at the voice, nearly jumping out of her bed before once again calming down, finally noticing Kaito’s worried look. “... You okay, Kaede? You got really pale for a second…”

At first, she doesn’t know what exactly to say, opening her mouth for a second before quickly shutting it. Should she tell him about what she just realized? Then again, maybe he’s already noticed, and was just scared of telling her about it?

She immediately feels guilt at that thought, pushing it away, as if it was burning into her skull. She may not have been friends with Kaito for the longest of times, but he wasn’t evil or anything. It wasn’t like he had any hidden intentions either, at least, not any that she could think of.

”... D-Do you think that… Shuichi may be Izuru..?”

Her voice is quiet, barely a whisper, but from the way Kaito’s eyes widen in surprise, she might as well have yelled at him. “Shit, are you serious?”

Kaede can’t help the somewhat tired look from appearing on her face at Kaito’s words. “... Well, if you’re right, then they both have red eyes. And since that’s a pretty rare thing…”

Kaito curses under his breath as he stands up from his seat, running his hand through his hair as he began to pace back and forth. Kaede can only watch, the silence of the room barely filled by the quiet sound Kaito’s slippers make as they hit the carpeted floor.

Finally, he stops pacing and turns to Kaede. “You mind if I leave for a bit? I’m going to go try and ask him if that’s true.”

For a few seconds, Kaede can only stare up at Kaito in surprise. She knew that he was usually blunt, but this was almost borderline stupid. “W-Wait, Kaito, I don’t think that’s a good-”

Too late, Kaito is already walking towards the door, mumbling under his breath once again as he moved. “Maybe Keebo knows where he is? I swear, the damn robot probably has a tracker on that guy…” Before Kaede can actually ask Kaito who exactly Keebo was, Kaito suddenly stops, mumbling curses under his breath as he tried to grab something in his jacket’s pocket. “Wait, shit, I almost forgot.”

He then turns and throws something black in Kaede’s direction, barely giving time for Kaede to react as the object gently slams into her face before falling onto the bed. Yet Kaito doesn’t seem to notice, yelling over his shoulder as he opened the door. “Rantaro told me to give that to you. I’ll see you later, Kaede.”

Kaede only manages to mumble a disgruntled “thanks” as Kaito shuts the door, before she finally notices what exactly Kaito threw at her.

At first, she simply stares down at the object, looking over the weathered black fabric before it finally settles on the white star. Slowly, she lowers her hands, as if the object would shock her if she touched it too fast, not even noticing how badly they’re shaking.

The second her hands touch the hat, something flashes into her mind, sharp and fast, so fast that she barely has time to process what’s going on.

She’s sitting on a chair in a darkened classroom she doesn’t recognize, her back to the front as she faced the person sitting behind her, who is almost a blur in her vision now, yet is getting clearer as time passed..

_”You give me the courage I need to take on the mastermind.”_

The words that come out of her mouth are ones she didn’t chose to speak, yet she has no control over what she was saying now. No, all she could do was watch as she gently set her hand on the other’s hand.

_”So please… Be more confident. I believe in you, so you should definitely believe in yourself!”_

Slowly, the orange rays of sunshine that is being filtered through the window brightens the room just a bit, and the person in front of her is no longer a blur, but clearly distinct. The black clothes they wore almost flashing dully in the sudden bright light.

Yet all she can see is the familiar hat on top of his head that hides one of the other’s amber eyes, which are now suddenly filled with a determination she had never seen before.

_”... Okay, I’ll try.”_

Shuichi gives a shy smile as he holds her hand tightly in return, but he doesn’t look away as he continues speaking.

_”I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try…”_

When she’s finally dragged out of the memory, it’s only then that she realizes that there are tears running down her face, her fingers digging into the black fabric of the hat so much that it nearly tore through.

Yet all she could do was remember. Memories coming back to her so fast that it almost felt like a dam had been opened in her mind. Memories full of nothing but sorrow and guilt for a killing game that she herself had helped started by killing Rantaro. It’s so much to the point that all she could do was gently hug the hat to her chest as she quietly cried.

###### 

”Morning, Kaede.”

She isn’t surprised as Shuichi walks inside her room the next day, familiar bag of tools in hand. Then again, it’s hard not to feel any emotion besides that empty feeling that came over her after she finally calmed down, continuing to stare at the ceiling as she gave a mumbled “hello”.

She can’t see Shuichi now, but she can easily imagine the concern that appears on his face, and she couldn’t exactly blame him for that. He had never really seen her like this after all. “... Kaede, are you… Okay..?”

Kaede doesn’t respond, doing nothing but staring up at the ceiling as she gripped the hat with one hand, the other hanging loosely at her side. Her vision is quickly cut off though, as Shuichi leans over the side of her bed, his eyes meeting hers, looking over her face with nothing but worry. “Seriously, Kaede, are you okay?”

Still, she doesn’t respond, all she does is show Shuichi the hat, holding it out to the other with a limp, almost uncaring hand.

At first, Shuichi does nothing but stare at the hat in return, an unreadable expression on his face, before he eventually sighs, running a hand down his face as he stands up straight. “... Who gave you that?”

”Kaito.” The words leave her mouth easily, but the usual emotion that carried along with it is gone now, replaced by quiet guilt as she lowered the hat back to her side. “But it’s not his. It’s Shuichi Saihara’s, and you're him, right?”

Shuichi flinches just a bit, as if she had accused him with venom laced words, removing his hand from his face as he replied. “Y-Yes, that’s technically me…”

”Technically..?” This time, there is something besides guilt in her voice, but also confusion as she slowly began to sit up. “What do you mean technically? I mean…” She looks over the young man again, and that’s when it strikes her how different the other is.

She hadn’t noticed the scars criss-crossing most of his hands until now, which lead upwards into his sleeve, where more probably were. There was also his eyes, which were a mix of that awful red and that bright amber.

Yet the eyes remind her of the conversation she had with Kaito yesterday, about a man named Izuru who had burning red eyes.

A man that she was slowly beginning to remember the more she looked at Shuichi. One who she met at the library, who she had found the truth about only for him to disappear later on.

A man who later told her that he was going to fix everything, and that he was sorry as he erased her memories.

With her memories from her fake life mixing with her memories from the killing game, it wasn’t that hard to connect the dots, and she finds herself gasping, unable to prevent the words that come out of her mouth next as she now stared up at the other in fear. “Izuru… You… You’re the mastermind..?”

Yet Shuichi, or Izuru, or whoever the man in front of her was didn’t need to say anything. The look of raw guilt that appears on his face is the only answer she needs.

It’s an answer that she’s wanted for a long time, something she has been wondering about nonstop since she remembered what happened during the killing game. She had expected to be enraged, to lash out in someway against the mastermind, like how she tried to kill them before.

But all she feels now is a wave of exhaustion, leaning back on the bed as she stared back up at the ceiling in thought.

”... I-I…” She turns her head just a bit to see Shuichi once again, his scarred hands clasped together as he glanced off to the side before he forces himself to look at Kaede. “... I know that what I did was unforgivable, but I never… I never intended for anyone to get hurt… And everyone is still alive...”

At this, Kaede can’t help the small scoff that leaves her mouth, shutting her eyes as she turned away from Shuichi. “It’s fine, we both ended up killing people for dumb reasons. So we’re even.”

She doesn’t catch the nervous look that takes over Shuichi’s face, nor does she realize the way Shuichi’s breath seems to stop for a moment before he speaks. “... You didn’t kill anyone, Kaede…”

Kaede’s eyes snap open at Shuichi’s words. “... What?”

”You didn’t kill Rantaro.” She doesn’t know whether or not Shuichi’s words are meant to be comforting, but the somewhat monotone voice he uses only serves to send chills down her spine. “Someone else did.”

At first, she doesn’t know what to say, simply staring up at Shuichi with wide eyes as she tried to formulate a question in her tired mind. “... Who..?” She then shakes her head. “Actually, no, don’t tell me now…” She then gives a tired smile, and while it’s barely there, it’s still a smile nonetheless, something she hadn’t done in over a day. “I think we’ve had enough revelations for one day.”

For a few seconds, it seems as if Shuichi was about to tell her anyway, before he suddenly stops at her tired smile, freezing up for a second before he gives a somewhat tired smile in return. “... Y-Yeah, I agree…” He then stops, realization dawning on his face as he uses one hand to dig into his pocket, before he takes out two familiar hair pins. “I should probably give these back to you…”

Kaede stares down at the pins for only a moment before she shakes her head. “No, it’s fine, keep them. After all…” She then holds up Shuichi’s old hat, her smile turning less tired and more like her usual ones as she did. “I already gave you those pins for your hat, so it’d be pretty unfair if I took them back, right?”

Another laugh leaves Shuichi’s mouth at Kaede’s words, although it sounded uncertain. Nevertheless, he still keeps the pins, putting them back in his pocket as he spoke. “I guess that does make sense…”

As he begins to put the pins back in his pocket though, only to stop and then attach them to the front of his shirt, that’s when the reality of what was in front of her seemed to click for Kaede, and her entire world stops.

Shuichi actually came back.

Whatever Hope’s Peak had done to him was obviously still affecting him, but he was no longer someone that awful place had swept under the rug. Izuru really did keep his promise in the end.

”... Kaede?”

She snaps out of her thoughts to see that Shuichi was now right next to her bed, concern etched onto his face. “... Are you okay..? You’re crying…”

She didn’t need to touch her face to feel her tears, now feeling them falling down her face slowly. Yet she made no move to stop them. All she did was reach up, wrapping Shuichi in a tight hug as she buried her face into his shoulder, as if he would disappear if she let go. “... I love you, Shuichi...”

She feels Shuichi tense up a bit, obviously surprised by the sudden affection, having to be down a bit so that Kaede could hug him in the first place, yet he makes no move to get out of it. No, all he does is sit down next to her on the bed as he slowly hugs her in return. “... I love you too, Kaede…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this is actually the first multi chaptered work I've ever finished like. Ever lmao.
> 
> As for some things that were not mentioned in this fic that I know some want to find out, how Tsumugi became the mastermind of the killing game was that she inserted a Junko virus (given to her by her own branch of the Ultimate Hunt) into the program behind Izuru's back, as he was too trusting of Shirogane, a leftover trait he had as Shuichi. Unlike sdr2 though, this Junko virus pretty much messed with some stuff and infected Tsumugi as well. I apologize for not explaining it in this chapter as I promised, but the original draft of this chapter did have it explained somewhere.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed This World Is Mine! I sure as hell had a lot of fun writing it. As for other fics I have in store, I actually have something in mind for a makeup Oumasai week (although it's just an oumasai fic since I love oumasai (not as much as I love saimatsu though lmao)) so if you like stuff like that you might want to look out for that. Besides that, I have my two other fics that I need to work on afterwards and that's it!
> 
> But seriously, thank yall so much for reading! Your comments mean so much to me, and help me continue writing. You're all so wonderful, and I love yall for your kind and encouraging words! I hope you all have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!

**Author's Note:**

> to be quite honest I never really thought I would ever finish this and post it, but I'm happy to see that was not the case. I hope you all enjoy the first chapter, as well as future chapters as well.
> 
> Remember, feedback is welcomed and appreciated, and I hope you all have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening.


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